


You Don't Need Saving

by ThemSoundwaves



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: 'cuz Blue is Legit A Child, Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Angst, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Drugs, Edge-centric at first, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I respond to most comments!, Illegal Activities, Illegal Fighting, May add more universes later, Most skells can heal, Obsessive lying, Polyamory, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader-Insert, Recreational Drug Use, Reds not a lustful asshole, Reverse harem/harem, Seriously reader lies like their life depends on it, Short term memory loss, Slow Burn, Sorry Not Sorry, Stretch Smokes The Devils Lettus, Swearing is kinda my second language, The skeletons may be a little tame, Tsundere Red, Violence, You really like cheesecake, cold reader, depending on how well i handle these six, digging yourself a pretty deep hole to lay in huh?, first time writing other AU's, i cant help but love him, i mean like, just a regular asshole, most physical descriptions of reader are left out, painkiller addiction, reader dosnt care about much, reader may lean towards female as the story progresses, skin color racism, slightly detatched reader, smut later sure, so expect lots of it x'D, so imagine away, some underage, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2020-07-28 19:46:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 50,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20069566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThemSoundwaves/pseuds/ThemSoundwaves
Summary: There was once a time when you had everything, when you were younger with a loaded family that could have taken you anywhere. It was safe to say that anyone in their right mind would have stayed, atleastuntil college.Not you though.Nope.You chose to leave, and to this day, you have no excuse for your actions; just up and left it all behind.You created a new life for yourself in Ebott city, a place famous for its monster population. Without proper identification, you lived off the books working at The Grounds, As it turned out, the boss didn’t care about your lack of credentials, he embraced you anyway.Now you fought to unconsciousness for the big bucks. Most who came fought when they hit rock bottom, others did it for the rush. You did it because you wanted to.It’s been some time since you started fighting, you never could keep track of… anything.Probably a result of the fact that you rarely cared about... anything.You've started to think that's a problem when you gain half a dozen friends in the span of a few nights.They carewayto much.It's contagious.





	1. Instant Unconciousness

_I've got that lightening in my veins_   
_I'm feeling something I can't explain_   
_Waking up the animal_   
_Waking up_   
_I've got this power living inside_   
_It has no mercy_   
_You cannot hide_   
_Waking up the animal_   
_Waking up_   
_The animal_

**Animal- Zayde wolf**

_ **V LINK V** _

_ ** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWB7Rmv12d8> ** _

* * *

When you were young, you ran away. 

Nothing had been wrong, it was a perfect life, you had careful and accepting parents, and you lived in a beautiful two-story home, with two sets of siblings to keep you company. Three meals a day, freedom, You had the ears of your family to listen to your problems, and the eyes of your parents to watch over you. You were a straight B student through your schooling, had all the clothes you could ever want, and the toys most would only dream of. Back then, you had money, the newest cellphones, the strongest friendships... 

You had it all.

A limitless, flawless life. 

With the world literally in the palm of your hand, you could have gone anywhere, done anything your heart dreamed of, with a full ride to college after high school, you could've gotten a degree, gone off and worked a fancy high paying job.

But…

You ran away.

_ Why? _

Why did you run?

Why did you run _ here? _

-

Large callus covered hands wrapped around your throat, you were shoved against a brick wall, the air knocked from your obscured lungs, resulting in a strangled hiccup. It was painful, but your body was used to the bruises. Your brain didn’t have to register the attack to retaliate, You’d been grabbed like this too many times before. 

The feeling no longer bothered you. 

You bashed your elbow into the crease of his neck, then reached out and dug your sharpened nails into the opposite cheek, raking them across his face swiftly in your goal to snap his neck to the side and tare his attention away. He loosened his hold, so you bit down on his arm, teeth sinking into the flesh, blood bubbled up and splashed into your mouth. 

The taste no longer distracted you. 

You wriggled from his grip and took off, The arena chosen for the day was a rather small oval pit, with stone walls surrounding it, rising over ten feet up. Above you? A huge crowd, screaming and cheering, hollering down in your direction, judging you, watching you intently, memorizing your moves. There were so many words and so many voices. It was all just background to you now.

The yells no longer unnerved you.

You bent down and scooped up a blunt object, one of the many objects the spectators threw into the pits to assist the fighters. Your eyes scanned over the man as he approached you, it was clear he obsessively worked out, his body was nearly entirely made muscle, your teeth and claws would do little to him. If you wanted to win this, you had to cause some serious hurt.

You lunged, the man had found his own weapon, a trashcan lid, a plastic one. His weapon of choice was tame compared to what he could have grabbed. There was a knife to his left: but you all knew the rules. Using bladed objects would decrease your reward, despite this place being illegal and pretty nasty, the overseers didn’t want many deaths on their hands. You use a blade that could potentially kill easier than any other weapon? There goes half your reward. This guy, though, he didn’t need a knife.

He knew his fists would knock you out, You were small, and had little meat on your bones. Your pipe crashed into him, he blocked, you swung again, he blocked, you snarled, stumbling back from the rattling force in your bones that reach strike resulted in. seething annoyance and anger festered inside you, it was like hitting a solid wall. He smirked, the bitch had perfect teeth, and he was toying with you. 

Cocky. 

Good.

You took his hits and maneuvered around the man to tire him out, he was going defensive, which was an insult, only kicking you away or punching at you when you had a grip on his shield. He was trying to tire you out,you had a lot of energy, but all the energy drinks in the world wouldn’t keep you going at this rate. Ten minutes, several bruises, and a bloody nose later, he tossed away the trashcan lid and stomped towards you, holding his shoulders high, eyes glaring directly into your soul. 

This was pitiful, you realized. The money reward had been too high, you didn’t do your research, you weren't on this guys level, You’d been fighting for several years now, but this man? This walking behemoth?

Seamed like you were the one who had gotten cocky.

Still, you put up a fight. You fought like you always had: like each strike could be your last. You managed to land some hits that would definitely bruise with the pipe, tired him out just a little bit more, you drew some blood, and that's all you expected, he grew bored with you. His last attack had you sprawled out on your back a few feet away, he’d grabbed you by your literal _ face _ and tossed you like a simple stone. Your back landed awkwardly on some item, your entire body lit up with pain, it traveled up the length of your spine, and it suddenly hurt to breathe. 

It was about to get even harder.

You looked up just in time to watch him grab his discarded trashcan lid, he lept foreword and frisbee’d it right at you. There was so much force behind it, you didn't even feel the impact it made when it hit you, it was instantaneous unconsciousness.

-

Something touched your shoulder, your brain took its time ‘powering up.’ the feeling of unfamiliarity sunk in. You were outside, chirping of crickets, some frogs in the distance, you smelt the fresh air, fingers scrunched at your sides, you were leaned against something, and you felt grass at your fingertips. 

This happened when you lost, you instantly remember, They’d drag you out and leave you somewhere closeby. Usually, it was in abandoned buildings or dark alleyways, sometimes if you were bad off, they’d leave you near a hospital. Your body ached and you felt the stinging of several cuts, but you were fine, you just needed to open your eyes, and pray to any higher power that you weren't blind.

You were about to give it a go, when a low voice struggled to reach you.

“hey uh, i get its a nice night’n all but you probably shouldn't sleep right here.” You could tell by its distortion that you had a concussion: great, there goes your income for the next week while you recover.

You opened your eyes and looked up at the mass in front of you, you jumped, of course. Anyone would, upon seeing a fucking skeleton in baggy clothes leered over you, face stretched in a grin. You brought a hand up to defend yourself from the monster, upon thinking that word, it hit you.

Monsters. That's right, Monsters were a thing now. You pulled down your arm to peer out at him, he’d moved a few steps back at your reaction, but still looked down at your seated form with curiousness and worry, beady white eyes locking into your bloodied face. Most of the blood was from when you bit the beefcake, the rest was from your injured nose. 

This wasn't the first time you’d come back after a loss to another per- living being, sometimes you woke up in a strange house after being found by someone. Your body was already going through the motions, you stood, balancing yourself on the tree. At least he assumed you were just sleeping, that left out explinations you dind’t want to give. you reached up and felt your nose, dried blood flaked off at your touch. Your stink was already making itself known, you were sweaty, exhausted, quite literally beat. With little effort, you waved a hand at the skeleton and drew in a yawn. The stinging in your spine at the action had you wincing, but by now, you were used to holding it in.

“Thanks, I can sleep anywhere, I swear.” You offered with a practiced laugh at the end, your tone light, but it still carried that tired graveness to it. After that man's grip around your throat, you knew swallowing for the next few days would be a pain in the ass. 

You took it upon yourself to investigate the underworldly being before you, he was a short thing, around your height, his eye sockets were adorably large, and now that your vision was returning, his grin was less terrifying then it had been when you awoke. A blue hoodie, striped black shorts, pink slippers. He stood tipped back a little, leaning his weight onto the soles of his feet, if his feet even had soles, this suggested he had a hard time holding himself upright.

“same, bud. names sans. you... don't look too good. are you alright?” you stared at his outstretched hand, processing his question, wanting nothing more than to go home and take a long shower, He was a monster, yes, and that interested you, you wanted to know more about him, but he was like everyone else. They offered you kindness and happiness, but you refused. This would be the first, and last time you’d see this ‘Sans’ You didn't include friendship in your life plan, you didn’t want it. 

_ Why? _

To Hell if you knew the answer to that question. 

“Y/n. And yeah, I'm fine. This happens a lot." You returned with a shrug, taking his hand only out of politeness, you ignored the way his cold bones soothed the burn of your palm from gripping the pipe as hard as you had. You were sure one of the strikes you landed, had done some damage to your wrist, it was like hitting a massive statue.

“Thanks for waking me up, but its time for me to go. Id say see you around, but id be lying.” You gave him one last confident shake of his hand, before letting go. “So, it was nice to meet you.” You flashed him a priceless grin as you stepped by him. You were in a park, you noted. Huh… strange place to dump the defeated. You turned and gave one last wave to the silent skeleton as he watched you walk off. “Goodbye.” You called. He muttered something, but you didn't stick around to figure out what it had been, You walked off, scanning the buildings, trying to place where you were, so you could find your way home. 

Five minutes of observations, your eyes locked on a familiar store you always went to. From there, You found your way back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, my lovely readers, I'm coming at you from the future, around chapter 7, to give you all some updates.  
1] This is going to be a pretty long story, and the way I've planned it, It's going to take some time for Reader to be romantically involved with all of our skelebaes. It's going to go one at a time, each one taking several chapters to develop, each skeleton has his own arch, his own plot that will help Reader with their emotional development which will, ultimately, lead into the relationship. [There will be bonding with all of them in all chapters, though] We're starting off with Edge. If you're not into VERY slow burns and long fanfictions... I suggest you stop after this first chapter. This is going to take a while.  
I'm doing this because, to me, relationships should not be an instant thing, feelings should not happen at the snap of a finger. it should be nurtured, grown, and realized throughout a story. I hate rushing something like that~ love is too precious to force in an instant. Because of this, any smut is far off.  
2] The skeletons are not sexually charged, they won't crawl all over you and beg for you to love them: not at first at least (Aside from probably Red, because... Well, Its _Red _). This isn't about soulmates, or whatever you'd like to call them, it's about developing love through friendship. [ex. friends to lovers] on a much larger scale.  
3] PLEASE READ TAGS. I'm going to update them every chapter, but this fic is pretty violent, and graphic (?)(not bragging or anything x'D) If those kinds of things bother you, then don't read: it happens very often, ESPECIALLY within the first two arcs. You have been warned.  
Thank you all for pressing on this work and giving it a read, I hope I can give you all some entertainment, or a worthy fic to binge on a weekend.  
4] We're only on chapter seven and we are in for a long ride, so buckle up, and as always. I'm up for suggestions. Being able to incorporate your ideas into my writing is what I thrive for. I'm not telling just any story, I'm telling 'Your' story. so if you have any suggestions for things you'd like to see (little scenes, interactions, dialogue) ANYTHING, even something as big as a sub-pot, I will gladly write down all you care to give me, and figure out a way to incorporate it into this work.  
Have an amazing day/evening/night my readers.  
(I will be posting an [almost] exact copy of this at the end of chapter 8 so that my reoccurring readers do not miss this.  
Later!  
-Soundwaves


	2. Content with struggling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heres the second chapter everyone! :D

You didn't feel like standing, So you opted to take a bath instead. It was the lazier option, you hated wasting energy, and you knew you’d get dizzy under the scalding water, surrounded by plumes of steam. You’ve passed out in the bathroom before, and it hadn't been a fun experience. You sat on the toilets cover and turned on the faucet, you stayed like that, just staring at the flow as you waited for it to fill.

You lived in a small studio, and it was perfect for you. You didn’t like large homes, having so much empty space around you had the hairs of your arms standing. You liked being able to see most of your property from one position, it gave you less paranoia, it was more secure.

When the water was ready, you sunk into its warm embrace, moaning and allowing gravity to pull most of your body under. The water wrapped around you like a cozy blanket, it soothed your pains, burns, and the pounding headache in your skull. You spent some time, just laying there. When your blanket began to cool, you drained a quarter of the tub and refilled it with more scalding water.

You could lay here forever, It's not like you had a life beyond this to get back to. 

You could lay here forever.

…

…

…

_ But you didn’t. _

Fifteen minutes later, you were out. You dried yourself and slipped on some casual clothes, you walked across your tiny living room to get to your room. You grabbed up a bottle of painkillers on the way. You weren't a neat freak, but the house was pretty well kept, some places were better than others, Your bedroom? One of the worse places. You didn’t have friends, so you never expected anyone to go in there. You were comfortable with it, and that's all that really mattered. 

You pulled out your money box from beneath your bed, you had a couple hundred, but with bills on the horizon, you couldn't afford to touch them. You were hoping the payoff from your last fight would've lasted longer than this. You usually fought twice a week. The highest you've won was a thousand, You were betting on tonight's fight to turn out better, You shouldn't have. Now you had nothing to spare. You should've gone for the five hundred battle, going straight for the 5k was your downfall. 

You limped off into the kitchen, throbbing pain in your knee. You weren't sure when you’d gotten that injury, but it was new. You took a pit stop in the bathroom to down a couple of pain relievers. After which you began rummaging through your kitchen. You had a stockpile of food, but you’d eaten it too many times before. Pancakes, cereal, canned soup. The fridge was bare of edible items, You had a diverse assortment out of date foods hiding in the back, and probably one or two severely out of date foods hiding in a corner. You needed to clean it out and get a fresh batch. Maybe next fight…

_ Why did you choose this life? _

You found your coin jar in the kitchen and began fishing out quarters. Your local store was open 24/7, You were a regular at this time of night. Despite the situation, a small smile lifted the corner of your mouth as you counted out a couple of dollars. 

_ You could have had it all. _

But for some reason_ … _

_ You like this. _

_ Content with struggling. _

_ Why? _

You didn't know. You doubt you ever would. 

You just felt satisfaction, you were happy with yourself, despite who you are now, however _ vulgar _ of a life you’ve given yourself, you were pleased. You could continue on this path and call it a good life. You didn’t _ need _ to see the world, you didn’t _ have _ the desire to learn twelve languages, or get a p.hD. You didn't _ want _ to be the smartest~ the funniest~ the kindest~ the _ anything. _ You just wanted to be you. You were you, and you liked it. The hell with mansions and golden jewelry, happy ever afters don't have to be _ everyone's _hopes and dreams. 

With seven dollars worth of coins jingling in your pockets, You pushed open the door to your home and walked off down the street. You didn't have any form of ID when you were fifteen and you left, You’d since gotten a fake one from your ‘job.’ Y/N L/N, that's what you went by now. You liked it better than the one your parents gave you. You looked vastly different now then you did in your school identification card, which you still had somewhere. 

Saving enough money for the courses you have to take just to learn to drive, proved its own difficulty with how you’ve chosen to live. Buying the car itself seemed like an impossibility at this moment. It didn’t matter, You didn't live far from The Grounds, and you lived in the city long enough to easily get most places.

Walking was good, It made you strong, The dark environment kept you aware, the loneliness gave you security.

You pulled your phone out from the mess of quarters in your pocket, it wasn't as good as the one your parents gave you, but it was yours, you'd set aside some money to buy it, and doing so gave you a burst of pride that gifted items never had. You were proud of what you had, a home, a fake identification, income. It was all yours, and only yours. 

**10:35 pm. **

Not bad. 

The city was not quite asleep yet, there were still a few nightcrawlers taking to the sidewalks, cars rolled past at a normal interval. You passed by a Chinese place. You went there sometimes when you decided to splurge on the better fight nights. Not tonight though, a cold gas station sandwich and maybe a drink was what you could spare. 

Walking up to the door, it was as inviting as always. For a gas station, this place was always well kept. There were only two employees at this time of night, and they bustled around and chatted like it wasn’t a few hours from midnight. Their friendliness occasionally irked you, but you’ve come to enjoy the casual banter, sometimes lingering in the store to eat your food just to feel the little comfort not-aggressive contact could give, even when it wasn't directed at you. 

Walking in, your eyes were already darting across the rows of foods and snacks in the side section, the store was small but perfect. One side held snacks, drinks, and consumables, the other side had everything else. You really didn't need any other store, this place had most everything you needed to survive in the condition you did. You loved it here. You waved at the front counter without looking up, already hearing the happy, mid-laugh hello of the female coworker. She told you her name, and it was written on her tag, but you never remembered it. Either that, or you didn't bother to learn it. The way you addressed people was pretty simple. ‘The girl, That girl. The one with blonde hair. The guy with the suit. The dude with the motorcycle beard.’ You could go on, but you spared your brain stress, and instead, grabbed up a chicken and cheese sandwich from a cooler wrack and brought it over to the counter. 

There was someone in front of you, you wanted to groan but refrained. You hadn’t seen anyone else in the store, and usually, you were pretty in-tuned to that sort of thing, so when you stepped in line behind a massive frame, you grew annoyed rapidly, seriously, it only took you a handful of seconds to formulate a metaphorical gloom cloud over your head. You wanted to eat and go home, Where had he even come from? 

“can ya heat this up fer me, babe?” You blinked, you heard the voice before, hadn’t you? No, this wasn’t quite how you remembered it. It was the same but… different? Gruffer, more accented. 

“Of course I can!” The cashier said joyfully, you didn't have to see her to tell she was blushing. Your brows scrunched as you took in the large man's appearance from behind. He was wearing a probably extra large black jacket, with a fluffy whitish gray hood. The top of his head was white, you could barely see it over the fluffs. A beanie? Was he wearing a beanie? Black basketball shorts with yellow stripes. Spunky sneakers. His legs were pale as fu~ wait. Your head tipped sideways. Bones, His legs were bones. That hadn't been a _ beanie _ on his head. It _ was _his head. You blinked back the memory of that skeleton you met earlier, thinking back on it made your head throb slightly. It’d been under an hour since you’d taken painkillers. You used them a lot, so the effects tend to wear off. Determined to stop the pain before it could fully start, you unzip your jacket and reached inside for the inner pocket. It didn't have an inner pocket, but after wearing it to a fight, and getting the inner lining sliced open, you found it was a perfect place to put other things you needed to carry around. 

Including an industrial-sized bottle of ibuprofen.

You shook out a couple of the oval pills into your hand and swallowed them down, no water included. 

You looked up, hoping to see a finishing transaction. You didn't, the girl was off to the side cooking up the mans~ The skeletons food. And said skeleton, was looking right at you. Surprisingly, you didn't flinch under his beady red gaze, in fact, your cheeks flushed. You noticed the collar, the golden tooth, the crooked, lustful grin. He was a skeleton, but he was hot. 

He was hot, and he was looking right at you. Clearly, this was not the other skeleton you’d happened upon’. You both stared at each other awkwardly while waiting for the cashier to break the weird bubble the two of you managed to create around yourselves. Caught staring, to look away, or to not look away?

He was studying you, and in return, you studied him. He was tense but at the same time, relaxed. He had the air of danger, and it triggered you a bit, usually, when someone looked at you this long, you were preparing to punch them or block. This wasn’t a fight, though. He was just looking at you, rather longingly… No, he wasn't looking at _ you _~ his red pupils were shifting form your face to the white bottle in your hand. Your defenses went up. You didn’t care for taking medication in public: you hardly gave a single flying fuck for just about anything. When you were younger, kids in school called you “cool.” for having such a chill attitude towards everything. You knew better now as an adult that most saw what you just did as negative, so you prepared yourself a half-assed explanation of why you were popping painkillers in the store at like, ten at night. 

Maybe if you ignored him, he’d stop?

You tucked the pill behind you, your baggy jacket, attempting to conceal it from view. You stared blankly ahead, exploring the array of cigarettes. A handful of seconds passed, and he was still looking at you, not saying anything. Did he look nervous, thoughtful? He was probably trying to figure out the scars on your face, you don’t hide them, there's too much effort in that. Either way, it was extremely weird and you had to _ do _something about it.

“What?” You barked, it wasn't your intention to be so abrasive about it, but you weren't comfortable. You just wanted to eat. The skeleton shrugged his shoulders acting as if the straight minute of his dazed observing, had not happened. He glanced out the station's window, like he was searching for something, then, his beady eyes drew back to you. “got any to spare, doll? Had'a rough day n' my bro doesn't like me taken'em.” He muttered, looking pointedly at the pills you were trying to hide. You made the connection, and relaxed a bit, he was just some guy in pain. You Wondered if you should fuel this guy's addiction or not, if it was an addiction. Who did you care? You had an addiction yourself, besides, you'd never see him again. 

“Uh, sure.” You uncapped the bottle and tipped four into your hand. He was a monster, how many does he need? Less? More? Probably more, he looked like the kinda guy who’d roll his eyes at two. “Four good?” You asked him, looking up. His eyes locked onto your hair, that you hadn't bothered to maintain.

“fives good.” He replied with a nod, you tried to drown out how incredibly awkward this was for seemingly the both of you, by searching his face, trying to figure out what kind of pain he was in. 

His look was unreadable.

You deposited the ibuprofen into his hand, hoping they wouldn't escape through the gaps. He knocked back all five of them in one go, and smiled deviously at you, that wide grin giving you wicked feelings, your body didn’t understand them, so you ignored it.

“thanks, love, jus’ what i needed.” You smiled back at him, feeling somewhat joyful over helping someone out instead of punching them. The cashier came back with his cooked food, and a mustard bottle, the skeleton beamed over at the woman and immediately began complimenting her in lewd ways. She didn't seem to mind,at all, completely entrapped by the slick monster, she fed him in more ways than the slightly burnt hotdog in his hand. You growled a little under your breath. Now they were back to talking. This was taking too damn long. The skeleton relaxed against the counter, and your body tensed. You didn’t have the restraint to deal with this guy. You’d just given him pills in the middle of a store, and he thanks you by needlessly taking up more of your time?

You’d seen enough to know when someone was being an ass just to be one. You stepped out of line, ready to return the items and head out empty handed~ 

You made it two steps, when the cashier sounded out her “Have a nice day~er night!” line. The skeleton brushed past you, flashing you the flicker of a coy grin. “later, kitten.” Despite being a human rather under control of your body and emotions, had you actually been a feline, that petnane would've had you purring. You held it In though. It wasn't every day someone flirted with you, sure, there was this nasty way the men at the Grounds flirted, but not in the genuine way that made you feel less like a scarred-up midget. 

No names were shared, that was it. You didn't mind not knowing his name. Names were names. You took your spot at the counter and paid for your items. You unrolled the cold sandwich and tossed away the wrapper. You left the store, intending to devour the sandwich before you got home. You met two skeletons in one day, it was strange. You’d seen monsters before, here and there. This city was rather close to the mountain the monsters had come from, it made sense that they’d integrate here with their citizenship. The skeletons though, they were new, You hadn’t seen a monster like that just hanging around. 

You got home, belly fed, body aching for rest. The skeletons puffed from your mind the second you sprawled out across your warm bed frame. You managed to get yourself halfway under the covers, but only so. You fell asleep in the midst of pulling out of your jacket.


	3. Friendship through violence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who bookmarked, commented, and gave me kudos. Your feedback is what keeps me going, it's a great inspiration!  
I just want to let everyone know that some of the skeletons have healing abilities in this story that they may not have for real.  
Also the chapter may be a bit long, i dont know if you all prefer long or short chapters. anyway, here it is! enjoy! :]  
Alsox2, credit for this chapter title goes to Nikkyla_Vexy. I just had to use it.

_I'm a saint, and I'm a sinner_  
_I'm a loser and a winner_  
_Without faith and a believer_  
_I am true and the deceiver_  
_I'm a hero and a villain_  
_I'm a myth, and I'm a legend_  
_Without strength and a contender_  
_I am real and the pretender_

_Take me as I am, or don't_  
_'Cause I don't give a damn, no_  
_Take me as I am, or don't_  
_'Cause I don't give a damn, no_

_I have my flaws_  
_I make mistakes_  
_But I'm myself_  
_I'm not ashamed_  
_That's who I am (oh)_  
_That's who I am (oh)_  
_That's who I am_  
_Oh-oh oh-oh-oh_

**The Score - Who I Am**

_ **V LINK V** _

_ ** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj2JZb1TSGA> ** _

* * *

You had no real job, So waking up to an alarm never happened past your schooling days. You worked when you wanted to, and slept as late as you dared. For you, Mornings weren't hell on earth. Your body reawakened naturally, and you opened your eyes with the smallest of rested smiles. You laid there for several moments, just taking in the room around you. Your head felt better, Maybe you’d gotten lucky: the world was only a mild blur from your morning haze. 

You had a single dresser beside your bed, inside the first drawer tucked your gaming system. The dresser itself was supporting a rather large box tv. It was the kind of box TV that was trying its damndest to be a flat-screen. It was probably older than you, but it did its job, and you’d gotten it nearly for free. 

_ It could've been a _ _ Samsung. _

You were happy with it.

There was a couch set up, fairly close to that television. Everything else? Irrillivent. With a yawn you reached out and fumbled around your sheets for your phone, shrugging off the rest of your jacket in the process. You checked the time. 

2:09 pm. 

That's the earliest you’ve woken up in the past week. 

You went through the motions as you did most mornings: Use the bathroom? _ Done. _ Take a couple of painkillers? _ Done _ . Eat some dry cereal? _ Got it. _ Check the locks? _ Always. _ Turn off all the lights to save on electricity? _ Yup _ . All of them? _ yup. _What about the bathroom light? 

On your way back to your room, you stopped, furrowed your brows, and looked back. You knew you were forgetting something, and that something stared you brightly in the face. You always forgot the bathroom light. Though, perhaps you could spare it? With the house being dark, it was always nice to have a beacon of light to guide you to relief. 

Sunlight shined in through the creases of your curtains, despite always having them shut. You didn’t need the bathroom light yet. You’d just woken up, there was plenty of daylight left. You could already hear the outside world through your thin walls. The stomping of shoes from your upstairs neighbors included. You closed the door to your room and threw on a pair of over the head head-phones. Booting up your systems, you turned on some music and spent the next three hours playing your favorite game. We all die someday, You didn't have the energy to go out and be a productive mor~, afternoon person. 

This would do just fine. 

-

It was around six when your stomach started snarling at you, the more you ignored it the louder those keens became, and the harder it was for you to focus on your in-game mission. 

Six was early, right? You checked your hoodie pockets, making sure to empty them before leaving. You had a plan to go check the lists and see who signed up today. Something easy, like a hundred dollar tussle, you could grab something to eat while you were there.

Down the road, just a little ways, sat an old looking bar, it was sandwiched between an apartment building and an abandoned parking garage. When you were young and came here, the place had been called Sams. Sam since retired and left his business to his eldest son, Damien. He changed the name to The Hunting Grounds. People who'd been there occasionally, called it 'hunting grounds' those who frequent? 

The Grounds.

Twenty feet below that old fashioned bar, laid the city's biggest secret. The Grounds was a massive cave, which had since been renovated into several large rooms with arenas carved into it. 

The bar itself looked like any other. it was cozy, warm, and smelt good, which was hard for most bars. There was a door near the bathrooms, metal, above it sat a boxing glove tilted slightly to the left. You knew this door well, just past it descended stairs that led into the arenas. You ordered yourself a bag of chips at the bar, giving, this was all you could afford. You started snacking on them as you made your way towards the bouncers who protected said metal door. 

You heard him before you saw him.

"THIS IS RACISM!" The voice was loud, high pitch, and growly, your head turned to the left, to see a tall skeleton looking rather edgy in his black and red clothes, which was really either heavy leather or actual armor. You couldn't tell, you walked up to investigate, your steps slowing. 

"Sorry bub." The bouncer known as Jeffery said. "It's unfair to the humans, monsters can't fight. I'm not letting you in." 

"WHO SAID I WANT TO FIGHT?” His voice dropped a decibel, which damn near surprised you. “Let. Me. In.~” His voice then returned to… ‘Normal.’ “~YOU HUMAN GARBAGE!" The bouncer refused to wince at the name calling, he was a professional after all. The skeleton had nearly three feet on him, but Jeffrey was not phased. 

"Sorry, I can't let you in." He repeated, his tone numb. 

"I AM THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAP~EDGE AND I DEMAND YOU LET ME IN THIS INSTANT!" Jeff breathed a heavy sigh, clearly annoyed. How long had this been going on? You shoved a handful of chips into your mouth, trying to decide when would be a good time to step in as you watched it unfold. 

"These are the rules, bub. Monsters can't fight." The shouting had caught the attention of the majority of the inhabitants of the bar. Most of them just rolled their eyes, used to such things. You even caught the glimpse of someone smiling.

The skeleton who introduced himself as Edge, let out a seething growl of anger, his doney fists balled, he looked damn near ready to throw a punch. 

"DO YOU HAVE A MENTAL CONDITION?" Edge roared, stepping into his space- bad choice, Jeff went deathly still, you could practically see his muscles flex under his fitting suit. He was ready to throw down should the need arise. "I SAID." Edge pressed his face in close to Jeff, who blinked at him, respectfully waiting for him to finish. "I. DONT. WANT. TO. FIGHT! I JUST WANT TO WATCH, IS THIS TOO MUCH FOR YOUR DISGUSTING BRAIN TO COMPREHEND?" 

Jeff loosened. "You gotta pass?"

"A WHAT?" Edge replied, his peeved off voice still prominent, but not as hard as before.

"A pass." Jeff elaborated. "You need a badge~ a _ pass _, to get in here. Do you have a pass?" 

Edge threw his hands up, grabbing at the air in his frustration. "UGH! YOU HUMANS AND YOUR PATHETIC PAPER-RIGHTS!" 

You pushed off the wall you leaned against, the words slipping from your mouth before you could stop them. 

"It's okay, he's with me. Ill vouch." you approached the pair, the third skeleton you'd met glared down at you with ripe hatred. You pulled out a little id badge from your make-shift pocket, and flashed it at him. The only real way to get your own pass, was to have someone who was already a member vouch for you. Otherwise? Your screwed. 

Jeff eyed you. "Y/n" he greeted, not even bothering to take or even look at the pass you held out.

"You sure?" You were about to say yes when Edge growled viciously at you from your side. 

"I DO NOT WANT YOUR PITTY HUMAN!" Ouch, yeesh, this guy's voice was louder up close, how the fuck was Jeff able to handle that? You pulled back your badge, taking a single step back. You looked up at him, taking in each and every detail your eyes lingered on, until you met his face. He was rather terrifying, and his clothes reminded you of the one skeleton you ran into at the store last night.

You gave him five seconds to process what he'd just said. After nothing, you shrugged. "Alright. Won’t see ya." You brushed past him and shoved open the doors, the sound, that was usually muffled by the heavy door, thumped to life. Edges face twisted when he heard the adrenalized noise. 

"WAIT." He called. You paused, still holding the door open, he was rapidly thinking of something, you waited, practically able to see his mind working. Shoving another chip into your mouth. Finally, he stuttered out. "SINCE I HAVE BEEN INVITED IT WOULD BE RUDE TO DENY THE INVITATION EVEN FROM FILTH SUCH AS YOURSELF! I WILL JOIN YOU!" You weren't exactly prepared for that spew but you shrugged regardless anyway, and held the door open for him to slide in. Jeff gave you a long, disapproving look, but you just nodded at him. You were fine, Edge really seemed to want to watch, maybe after tonight, he could sign up for his own pass. 

You both descended the stairs, Edge was glowering quietly to himself the entire way. You didn't mind him being quiet, you didn't exactly have anything to say to him, if he wanted to be a pouty little bitch, then fine. You just wanted to fight. You showed him the different arenas, and where he could sit. He humphed at you, barely responding with anything other than a grunt or a sound. You could tell he hated humans, and you didn't blame him, you hated them too sometimes. 

After what felt like twenty minutes, the skeleton finally found himself a seat. You handed him your pass, letting him know that if anyone gave him trouble, to just show them the slip. There was no thanking, no handshake, nothing. He didn't ask why you were there, or whether or not you were a spectator or a fighter. He didn't speak, so you left him there to go and do what you originally intended on doing. 

-

It took you less then a minute to navigate the confusing hallways, there were signs hanging from the pristine walls pointing you in the direction of either the south or north wing. You always went to the south wing, it was just something you did.,As you walked, your brain went through the normal questions.

How could a place so illegal, be so clean and full of life? One would think, with constant maintenance and work being done that someone would report the place. In all reality, it didn't really matter. Even after six years, the humans were still focused on the Monsters, you guessed they just didn't care much for places like this anymore. Which, in the end, was good for you. 

You were a few inches from the door to the south wing, but stopped short upon hearing screaming from inside, it was a good thing you had. Not a split second later that heavy-duty metal door was thrown open.

"I swear to God Kevin, if you touch me one more time..." It was a woman, she looked in her prime. Long brown hair, perfectly tanned skin. Your eyes lingered on her angered facial features. She had a scar trailing down from her lip to her chin, and one of her eyes was completely white. 

Nearly at the same time she exited, a curly-haired man slipped through behind her, he looked disheveled, and wore a look of panic. 

"Babe, don't be like that. I love you, okay?" He pleaded. You felt bad when your eyebrow raised at the 'show' taking place before you. They were blocking the door though, so you had no choice but to stand there and wait. 

"You love me, but you bet against me? You're so fucking stupid, Kevin! I had this one on the bag! We could've doubled!" He reached out and grabbed her wrist, words spilling from his lips in stutters. 

"I promise it w-was an accident~ I know you're~" he got no further. The blonde woman reared back her fist and clocked him so hard in the nose, you literally heard the cartilage break. He stumbled back and placed a hand firmly on the nearest wall to keep from falling. "T-the fuck Jess! I said I was sorry!"

She was already walking away.

"I'll see how sorry you are after you make dinner, ya fuckin' dick!" You watched 'Kevin' scramble after his apparent girlfriend, the entire scene had been a bit of a time waste, but you couldn't find room to care. Watching that woman stand up for herself made you smirk. 

The world was getting stronger.

Or perhaps, just your little corner of it. 

You walked in with a smile, probably should not have been happy over such a thing, it was nice none-the-less. Next to the door, there was a large whiteboard, with names and prices scribbled on it. Most of the higher fighters were already claimed. You scanned the bottom of the list. Someone easy... All the hundreds were claimed, and there was one two hundred that still had an open box, you grabbed one of the markers and scribbled your name in the claim slot. Gavin, looks like you were fighting Gavin. Two hundred was a bit much, you realized. It was no 5k, but you needed to prepare yourself. You intended on doing a hundred, one fifty at the most. 

It didn't matter, you could do this.

You took a breath as you waited for the current fight to end, you sat in the preparation bay, south wing, and finished up your chips. There were plenty of chairs, but you chose to lean against an open crate, and stare directly at the gate that separated this room from the arena. You could see through the rusted bars, and hear the screaming and cheering. It wasn't for you, but even hearing it from this distance gave you goosebumps. You couldn't wait to see just who this 'Gavin' was. 

You watched one of the fighters deliver a punch to the face that literally sent his opponent spinning to the floor, you winced, you're pretty sure everyone else winced too. Still, the victim got up, and lunged with renown vigor. 

You felt some weight behind you, it pushed the crate foreword a bit. With a lazy expression, you titled your head to the side to see who had joined you. 

It was the guy from your last fight, he was dressed in better clothing, with his hair actually maintained. He smiled at you, and you smiled back.

"Surprised ta' see yah back 'ere so soon." It may have been worded to sound like a threat, but the man's voice was friendly and calm. We all fought for our own reasons, you weren't going to hold a grudge. 

"Low on cash." You replied, trying to remember the name he'd put down on the list before. Zack? Zachary? Something with a Z. You were going with Z.

"Aye." He shifted, then reached for his wallet. Your brows furrowed as he pulled out a small bundle of twenties. 

"Was tryin'a catch'ya 'fore they dragged ya off. Ya fought damn well fer'a little guy/girl. shouldn't'a left empty handed." He held out the money, you took it without a second thought. He was offering, and it was nice of him to help you out. You didn't like pity, but this wasn't pity. It was fair. You'd fought like a devil against him. 

You sighed with relief, a hundred. It was more then you'd ever been given by someone, not counting your parents. 

"Thanks." You replied, not a second after you finished did the arena flash to life with noise and cries of happiness, an some cries of despair. a few of the staff walked past you. It looked like the one who'd been losing at first, came out the winner, you watched the workers carry the unconscious fighter out of the arena, then out through a back door. 

A few minute intermission started, you went through some breathing exercises and took off your jacket. You tucked it in a corner behind some pipes, out of sight. You straightened your clothes though you knew they'd only get ruffled. 

You also pulled up your pants, the gesture giving you comfort.

Finally, they announced yours and Gavin's name. You straightened, a longing grin lifting up your lips. Z gave you a thumbs up with a lopsided grin. You winked back at him. 

The gate opened, and with confidence, you stepped foreword. 

Win or lose, at least you had a fresh hundred in your pocket to use up. 

-

The noise was deafening, it was the same arena as last time, the floors had been cleaned spotless of tossed items, so that no one started with an advantage. You looked up into the makeshift bleachers, something you never did. Usually, you kept your face to the floor or your enemy, but before you even looks at Gavin, you were searching the faces above.

You honestly didn't know what you were looking for, until your eyes locked on that lengthy skeleton you'd vouched for. He wore a look of surprise, upon seeing you enter, when he caught you looking, his surprise swiftly morphed into a glare. 

It seamed like that's how he communicated. Did he even know how to show kindness? 

Satisfied, you finally turned to look at Gavin. 

He wasn't much taller then you, that was the first observation you made. His hair was a dusty blonde, and he had this wild look in his eyes. He was favoring his right side and you almost felt bad for him; had he already been through a fight? Or was he recovering, just like you?

You also noted fairly quickly that Gavin did not look older then twenty, he had to be at least seventeen. You were an adult, in your late twenties. The kid must've been in dire need of money to resort to this. 

A whistle sounded, signaling the start of the match. Most would've stayed back, done a few investigative circles; but not Gavin. The second the whistle went off, he darted straight at you, screaming. 

He may have looked like an underdog, but for the first two minutes, you were blocking furiously fast punches. He was quick, quicker then you, and it took all your focus to dodge most of his attacks. You dance around eachother, kicking and snarling, punching out with viciousness. When the second whistle alerted the bystanders, signaling that they could now 'assist.' you hadn't even heard it, you were too busy trying to stay ahead of this kid. 

Something small an metallic landed at Gavin's feet, and for a millisecond he was distracted. You wasted no time. 

You grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him foreword. You bashed his face into your already swinging fist. One, two, three times to his ear. You felt your blood boiling inside.

He stumbled back, grasping your shoulder just trying to remain upright, clearly, he's dazed by the blows. 

You wouldn't give him a chance, your body was vibrating with that exciting energy you thirsted for. Two hundred bucks, it was yours. 

Your final swing sent him tripping to the floor, grip still on his shirt, you made sure to lift him for a harsh and brutal punch to the nose, before shoving him down into the dirt covered ground. He curled, submitting? 

That's what you thought until he rammed his fist straight up from his spot, into your private area. Man or woman, it didn't matter, the force of it fucking hurt. You bent, groaning in pain, he tackled you, sending you both to the ground in a wild fury of fists and bites that resembled a dogfight. He'd grabbed the metal object from before, and though it was not sharp, he somehow managed to stab it into your arm hard enough for it to go 'through' it entirely. 

You screamed. You'd had plenty of wounds before, but being pierced by a blunt object... It was excruciating. 

Your blood leaked all over the floor, as you struggled to get him off you. When you managed to stand, you lunged foreword and caught a fist full of his sandy hair, you through all the strength you had into shoving him back down on the floor. You ignored the agony that came with it, said agony only fueled you more. He hit the ground, you snagged up one of his arms and twisted it, then straddled him. 

You punched him in the face, over and over, blood dotted your clothes, and your fingers screamed in protest at the strain, but you kept punching, and punching, and punching, until he finally stilled beneath you. You sat there for several seconds, just allowing yourself to breathe. 

Your body was slowly becoming aware of the extent of damage you had, when you fought, it was hard to understand where you were hurting during the moment, it wasn't until afterwords when you felt the aches. You had to favor one of your legs to avoid a piercing pain from your ankle. You let the swarm of people's voices around you die down, before you finally got off him, got up, and left the arena. You were hurt, but you didn't care. Winning felt nice, you did it all on your own, with your own strength, your own knowledge. 

You swept up your jacket and went to the booth in the prep room, blood still dripping down your arm onto the floor. The man behind the counter gave you your money: 260, the 60 must've come from those who placed bids on you. And though the thought that they'd only bet ten dollars on you made you feel a little worthless. It wasn't much, but at least it was something. 

Those people walked out with triple the money they'd placed on you. You felt confident. 

You were surprised to find Edge waiting for you outside of the preparation bay, you shoved the money into your pocket, intending to put your head down and walk by him, he had his arms crossed, and was tapping a foot impatiently. When he saw you, he straightened and made his way towards you. Guess there was no avoiding him. 

"Y/N!" He used your name? What happened to the 'human' nickname he was calling you?

"Uh, yeah?" His cheeks dusted a light red, he glanced around nervously, going as far as to scratch at the base of his skull. 

"WATCHING YOU FIGHT WAS NOT TERRIBLE." He finally said, after what felt like a straight minutes pause. "AS A REWARD FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT, I, THE AMAZING AND TERRIFYING EDGE, WILL HEAL YOU." He declared, stepping into your space, he reached out and grabbed your bleeding arm, you flinched, and moved to step back, but stopped at his determined growl. He wasn't fighting you, he was healing you. 

The process was extremely awkward. He hovered his hand over your wounds, and you watched with mild fascination as red magic puffed from his hands an wrapped around your injuries, healing them in record time. The entire process took several minutes, he'd ask you where you hurt, and you'd point. Fixing your ankle had been weirdest part, you had to hold up your leg because the 'amazing' Edge couldn't be bothered to bend down. You stood there in quiet awkwardness. Appreciating the gesture more then he'd ever know. It felt amazing, the magic seamed to evaporate any and all damage you felt, past and present. When it was over, you felt a rush of energy. 

You looked back at the preparation room, wanting to go again. His voice pulled you away from that want, though.

"IT WOULD BE... AN EXPERIENCE TO COME AND WATCH YOU AGAIN. I NEED TO HAVE YOUR NUMBER SO THAT I, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE EDGE, CAN COME BACK." 

You blinked, and stared at him blankly for several seconds. Someone actually wanted your number? He didn't seem like the kind of guy to try and be your friend, he was probably just using you to get in to watch more. However you didn't exactly mind it as much as to probably should have. 

You pulled out your phone and handed it to him, he tapped in his number, then gave you his own phone. You took a second to scroll through his contacts. He didn't have many, but you recognized one. 

'Sans The Skeleton~TRASH' 

He knew Sans? Maybe they were related. 

Once it was over you bid him goodbye. You felt renewed, and positively bursting with energy. He walked with you, as you exited both The Grounds, and the Bar. You had to stop though. You'd gotten a few steps towards down the street when you noticed he was still here. 

You stopped and looked at him pointedly. Caught staring, he swiftly glared at the sidewalk. 

"Need something?" You asked him in your best Skyrim Guard voice. Edge stood there, in his lengthy probably over eight feet glory. The reference went right over his head.

"I, THE TERRIBLE EDGE, AM AN ESTEEMED MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD! AS SUCH, I WILL ESCORT YOU TO YOUR DWELLINGS." 

"I don't need an escort." You replied quickly. 

"AND I DONT CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU NEED." He retorted heatedly, refusing to move. You gave in with a shrug. 

"Fine. Let's just go." 

The walk home was silent, but not unpleasant. Though there was no talking, it felt... Nice to share the sidewalk you've spent so much time on, with someone else. His gaze seemed locked mostly on the sky, and the longer you both walked, the more relaxed the air became. All too soon you arrived at your studio apartment. It was on the first floor, but there was still a small porch leading to the door. You scaled the steps, turning once you arrived. 

There was no way you were inviting him in. 

Your house was a fucking disaster. 

So instead, you gave him a plain smile. He hadn't joined you on the steps, instead, he stayed at the bottom.

"This is me." You said, gesturing to your home. Edge peered at the outside walls, his sockets squinting as you obviously noticed he tried to get a peek through your curtains. His look did not linger, after a second, Edge stared off into the distance, refusing to look at you. It was something you'd come to associated with the big monster. He didn't like eye contact unless he was threatening you.

"GOOD." His loud voice made you cringe, since he'd been so quiet before, you'd nearly forgotten the decibel this guy talked at. 

"I EXPECT A TEXT AND OR CALL FROM YOU SO THAT I, THE ALMIGHTY PETRIFYING EDGE, MAY ACCOMPANY YOU TO YOUR NEXT BATTLE." 

Yeah, he means to use your pass. He looked ready to continue, but you stepped in before he could.

"Okay, great. But next time I'll show you how to get your own pass, so you don't need me to vouch for to anymore." 

Edge nodded briskly. "DEAL." You turned and pulled open the door, slinking halfway inside. "Goodbye, Edge." You hummed. He grunted, already leaving. 

Once inside you closed the door and took several breaths to calm your racing mind. 

Did you... just make a friend?


	4. Different

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this drunk so forgive me for mistakes??  
alsox1 you're all awesome and i feel loved as fuck?  
this as originally a brainchild i daydreamed up, it was never intended to be written down but I'm glad that I did because the feedback is amazing.  
on a random note, i might add ink at some point because i fucking love his character but i have no clue how to write him.  
if anyaya would like to see stuff in the future im super open to suggestions, i looove writing what people like to see, after all, why else would i be posting this for the world to click on? Its for YOUR enjoyment  
so ENJOY!  
I love you all.

Your morning started off wonderful. 

That is, If you could call being rudely awoken from your slumber at 10 in the morning, by a pounding fist at your door, wonderful. Your eyes cracked open, and dizziness tore through your adjusting vision, you waited a moment, body strewn lazily across your bed. Maybe it had just been a part of your dream? Your eyelids began to flutter closed, yeah, maybe. It happened sometimes...

Then it came again, harder this time. You snarled savagely into your pillow, like the fabric was the cause of all your problems. You were also pretty damn sure you bit it, but you were too tired to register your actions.

Who the actual fuck? Your brain took longer to wake up then usual, you pulled yourself out of the covers and stumbled to your door. You threw it open and shot the devils glare at whoever had the audacity to visit you this early.

It was your landlord. He was a short old man with a charmingly choppy white hair and wrinkled features. He wore a near jacket and some dress pants. He had round thin glasses and used a cane to get around. There was no hello, no greeting, the old man just stuck out his tiny shriveled hand in your direction.

"Six-fifty." He said, he had a very small Indian accent. You cleared your throat, afraid to speak so early. So instead you nodded, and gave him a 'one sec' finger.

You only had five hundred in your box, so you had to morbidly steal some of your winnings to add into the pile, this left a measly hundred and ten. You went back to the door and handed the old man his money, he made a show to count it in front of you, like he didn't trust you, and you didn't blame him: people in this apartment block were rather skimpy, you learned long ago that any items they asked to 'barrow' would never get returned. You stopped helping them out.

When he was finished, he nodded his head just a hair and shuffled off to the stairs to bother the next renter. You stared off down the street with your door still open. Edges healing must've worked deeper then you thought. Now that you were more awake you weren't feeling like total shit, and the bright, outside morning world seemed to call your name. 

You needed to restock the fridge anyway, right?

You spent the next half hour with your body halfway inside your fridge, and a bag in your left hand. You were throwing everything out, everything. Any items that you hadn't bought in the last two days was going in the trash bag. When it was over, your fridge was as barren as the desert, save from a stick of butter and a couple cans of soda. 

You'd never legit cleaned at ten in the morning before, shouldn't you be grumbling, or angry, or ranting? You weren't. You felt content with this.

You heaved the bag over your shoulder and left the apartment, you headed across the parking lot to the shared garbage dumpster.

You heard the clicking of a window unlocking, then the sliding of it opening, next thing you knew, a deep voice was shouting down at you. 

"Studio trash!" You threw the bag in the dumpster, then turned and looked up. There, on the third floor, was a young stubbly haired black man, with his head halfway out the window, his middle finger raised. 

"Ya wanna come say that to my face bitch?" You screamed back.

"I'll turn your white ass into cream and drink it, fuckin cunt!" He retorted.

You threw your hands out in a 'come at me' motion, slowly spinning in your spot.

"And I'll turn your black ass into my mocha coffee and beat your fake ass friends up with the energy, ya fuckin sleezebag, TRY ME!" 

"BITCH! You ain't shit!" He was leaning almost entirely out his window now.

"BITCH! You look like shit!" You were marching up to the flight of stairs that'd lead to his room, entirely intending to go up there to beat shit out of him.

"CAN YA'LL FUCKIN' SHUT UP?" A woman screamed from the next apartment up. 

"Step outta my business, woman!" The randomly peeved off man shouted back. 

"ILL CALL THE POLICE!" 

Silence. 

"YEAH BITCH, fuck off." 

His window closed. You ducked back into your apartment, snickering. You were smiling the entire way to your bed to collect the last of your money. Who knew mornings could be this exciting? 

-

The local grocery store was kind of intimidating, it was like a small mall, just full of mostly food, it had a section for other things but you strayed from that area; you were here for food, proper food, food you could cook a meal with, that'll last you some time.

As you took to each isle, browsing the items, you began to think. You were so used to just grabbing already cooked meals and sandwiches at the general store that you had, legit, no clue what to stock the fridge with. You stopped in front of a row of milk cartons, closing your eyes you tried to imagine your parents fridge. When you were little, you'd sneak out of your room in the dead of the night to raid said fridge. What kind of things did you see in there?

Milk. Eggs, fruits, lunch meats, vegetables, juice, yogurt. You checked your basket, already seeing the items you mentally listed off. Christ, there had to be something else you could put in there? You hadn't even reached fifty dollars yet.

Why the hell was shopping so damn hard? 

You grabbed your favorite cereal, some packaged meats, pepperoni, a bunch of cheese. (Cuz you wouldn't deny the fact that you kind of had a cheese addiction.) now that you thought about it... You searched the same isle again, until you found what you were looking for. Cheese sticks.

_ Gods almighty creation _.

You viciously grabbed at least four packets of twenty five cheese sticks. If worse came to worse, you could _ totally _ survive off of them. 

You made a move to retreat to the next isle, to find some condiments, when a colorfully decorated item caught your interest.

It was a cake.

Not just any cake, though.

A s'mores cheesecake.

You nearly vomited with excitement. You snagged up the largest one you could find, and basically skipped to the checkout lane with a giant, goofy smile on your face.

The cashier eyed you weirdly but respectfully kept quiet as he scanned five packets of_ twenty five _ cheese sticks. He probably thought you had kids to feed or something, you didn't bother to elaborate the blatant question In his eyes. This was your life, you could do what you want, besides, you could use a little more meat on your bones. You asked for your cheesecake to be put in it's own bag; you began out the store carrying two bags on each arm. You were so dazed by your find that you didn't notice the body in front of you until it was too late. It wasn't entirely your fault, the 'attacker.' _ had _ been walking backwards. 

You slammed into the mass of what felt like hard metal, and fell back on your ass. Your groceries scattered across the floor, eggs cracked, your milk broke open, but the only thing you could think about...

"My cheesecake!" You scrambled onto your hands and knees and dug into your bag, sighing with relief upon seeing the perfectly unphased cake still in it's carrier. You brought it to your chest and hugged the plastic like it was your last lifeline. 

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" The voice caught you off guard, you pulled your gaze away from your item. Edge? With a very subtle brittish accent? You looked up. Nope, not Edge. Jesus Christ, is that another skeleton monster? There was a shorter one beside him, holy fuck, was God just shitting out bones or something? This one was a cute thing he had a large blue bandana and a shirt with a crap ton of boyscout pins on it. He stared down at you with huge, concerned sockets. 

"OH MY STARS, PAPYRUS! LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO THEIR EGGS!" You glanced to the side, seeing the yellow yoke seeping out of the bag.

Two gloved hands wrapped around your shoulders and heaved you to your feet. You were used to being handled by people; mostly aggressively: had he been a human, you would've punched him for touching you. But it was a skeleton, and you were slowly getting used to seeing skeletons, so you just let him limply help you up.

There were tears in Papyrus's eyes as he hit his knee bones and began hastily trying to gather up the mess he made. He picked up a shell and went as far as to try and piece it back together with it's broken counterpart.

"IM SO SORRY!" He cried, the smaller skeleton joined him on the floor, seeming equally eggasperated (sorry not sorry) though it hadn't been his fault on the slightest. He busied himself trying to stop the flow of milk by paddling it with his blue gloves, the cow juice seeped into said gloves and you actually started to feel bad for them. 

"HES VERY SORRY!" The shorter one agreed. They were loud, just like Edge, your brows scrunched as you watched them frantically try to fix their mistake, you were so dazed by the entire thing that you didn't even know what to say. You just held your cheesecake to your chest, tightly like if you let go it would fade into black forever, and watched them. After several moments, and a few glaring spectators, you decided to speak.

"My dudes, it's all good." You said, putting on a smile, Papyrus looked up at you, so much hope, so much happiness in those simple sockets, it had you stumbling. No one had ever looked in your direction like that, not even children. (Because they looked at you mostly on fear and wonder.)

"REALLY?" 

"Yeah, for real. I didn't leave the store, the staff'll replace my items, they always do." Papyrus shot up from his spot on the floor, gloves covered in yoke, you watched a little tendril drip onto the floor and make a small_ plap _sound.

"WOWIE! THIS IS AMAZING NEWS!" The smaller one joined him, saying, "THEY NEVER DO THAT FOR US!" A couple staff members waddled over miserably to clean up the mess. You handed them your receipt so they could replace your broken items. 

Papyrus reached out and grabbed one of your hands, you nearly gagged on the slippery feeling of the eggs between your fingers.

"I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" 

The other skeleton shoved Papyrus none to gently out of the way to grab your hand with his dripping milky gloves.

"AND I AM THE MAGNIFICENT BLUEBERRY!"

You stared down at your hand.

You didn't have to worry about a morning meal, at least: You had a healthy breakfast at your fingertips. 

"Y/n" you supplied, grinning at their enthusiasm. You wiped your hand off on your pants; you'd do laundry later. Blueberry pointed behind you.

"AND THATS MY BROTHER, STRETCH." Oh, there was another one? You peered back, catching sight of the tall skeleton wearing an orange hoodie, he had an unlit cigarette in his mouth, and was staring at the scene with half lidded sockets. Both of the taller skeletons reminded you of Edge, while Blueberry reminded you of a more child-like Sans.

"sup." Stretch said.

"Nothin' much you." You replied.

"nothin'." Stretch drawled. 

You waited for him to say something else.

...

...

_ Okay, great. _

You turned your attention back to the two excited skeletons infront of you. Just like you had to everyone else, you took in every detail. It was a thing you did, your mind naturally tried to figure out the weak and strong spots on a body with nothing more then a glance. There were always subtle hints that would give a weakness or strength away, it was different with monsters though, since most of their strengths came from their magic, and you had no way to gauge that. 

You had to wait for the clerks to return with your fresh items, so some short conversation would do in the meantime. A few days ago, you would've wondered away from the strange group in favor of being alone for your wait; but now? You almost couldn't help it, ever since that walk home with Edge, you'd been craving some kind of social interaction. It'd been nearly four years since you'd honestly not been bothered when spending time with someone, even if Edges company hadn't been completely that eye-opening, it had been nice none-the-less. Your face scrunched a little bit. 

_ What was happening to you? _

"YOU SEAM VERY NICE." Papyrus began, giving you a giant smile of approval. Blueberry was practically bouncing beside the tall red clad skeleton, his sockets glued into the distant isles. Clearly, he couldn't wait to get some shopping done, yet, he didn't seem to want to leave here yet either.

"HUMANS USUALLY DON'T STAND WITH US THIS LONG." Blueberry added and you blinked. You'd thought humankind had come a long way since they Monsters first exited Ebott; since meeting these monsters, it was apparent that you were wrong, they were avoiding them. Maybe now with less anger and racism, but still. It wasn't right. 

"No?" You quarried, urging him to continue. You sat your cake back in the now empty basket, and leaned against a display to listen to him. 

"NO." Blueberry supplied. "MOST OF THE TIME THEY JUST WALK AWAY." 

You smirked, sure you understood why someone would just walk away from these two; you had the feeling one word could have them going for ages. 

"How rude." You pulled out your phone an checked it. 12:39AM. God damn, it was still so early, besides shopping, what else did you have to do today? 

At the sight of your phone, both skeletons perked up. You could've sworn you saw the bow of Blueberries bandanna rise like a pair of cat ears in your side vision. You quickly dismissed it as a trick of the eye. 

They'd gone quiet, you peered at them from behind your screen, they stared at you expectantly. Remembering back to your time with Edge, you suddenly got the feeling that they really wanted your phone number. And so...

"You guys wanna trade numbers?"

The answer was instantaneous, they both yelped out yesses. Papyrus reached out for your phone but Blueberry beat him to it, the shallow fight for control over your device afterwords had you feeling special in the depths of your heart. When it was over, two phones were suddenly in your face.

You couldn't stop the smile on your lips, and as you entered your number in, the little voice inside your head spoke.

_ What's with all this happiness? Why is it contagious? _

"YOU SHOULD COME HAVE DINNER WITH US." Papyrus beamed after you finished with his phone, Blueberry bobbled his head in agreement beside him. Your stomach dropped at the thought. Dinner? Now that was... Moving a bit _ fast. _

Luckily, the previously silent Stretch came to your rescue. 

"you just met them, 's a bit weird to invite them over so quick. why don't we give'em a few weeks to get used to us huh?" You watched Stretch push off the wall, as he did, you noticed one of the staff members returning with four bags in their grasp. You already saw the second cheesecake before anything else. 

"BUT STRETCH~" Blueberry began in a whine, The tall limber skeleton continued, cutting of his protests.

"sides, we have plans with sans tonight don't you remember? and Y/n is most likley busy."

Sans? So they all knew eachother?

You should've guessed. They _ were _ all skeletons. 

Isn't that racist though, to assume they know eachother because they're the same species?

Yeah, probably.

You didn't give much of a fuck though so... 

_ Anyway... _

You weren't busy, in fact, you had absolutely no damn idea as to what you were going to do after this, but the thought of going over to a strangers house after knowing them for twenty minutes didn't sit well with you, monster or not; adorably friendly or not. so you nodded; even if it was a lie. Both papyrus and Blueberry deflated, they looked extremely disappointed and part of you hated letting them down. 

"why don't you guys go work on that list, I'll catch up with you." Stretch finished.

Blueberry was the first to leave. He have you a large charming smile before he bound off for the nearest isle, fishing a paper from his pocket. 

Papyrus reached out and shook your hand, again, this time with the non-soiled glove.

"IT WAS SO VERY NICE TO MEET YOU Y/N. I HOPE WE CAN ENJOY YOUR COMPANY AGAIN." And with that, he released your hold and took off after Blueberry, his long legs making it easier to catch up with the other at half the pace.

It was only you and Stretch left. He was watching you, studying your face, eye lights lingering over a particularly nasty scar on your cheek. You didn't move to hide it, you never had. 

He handed you his phone, giving you a soft smile, you accepted it and tapped in your number.

"they're a bit much sometimes." He began, you shrugged, getting his meaning but not understanding the apologetic tone in his voice. "It's okay.” you replied. “They seem super fun to be around. Like flashlights in the dark." Stretch snorted at that, like you'd just struck an inside joke or something, he didn't elaborate, and you didn't ask. There was a distant screech, that sounded an awful lot like Papyrus. Stretch gave you a nervous smile.

He took his cigarette from his lips and held it out to you. You smoked every so often, and you never denied free things. So you took it without a second thought, figuring this was his peace offering. "thanks for ya know, not bein' an ass. We'll see ya around, y/n." He gave you a half-wave, an you returned it with a smile that indeed reached your eyes. The staff member handed you your bags, and you gratefully accepted them with thanks. When you looked up, you saw the back of that orange jacket, ducking behind an isle.

You left the store feeling absolutely renewed. You had two large cheesecakes, and you'd met a couple more skeletons who seemed thrilled to meet you. You were never one to have friends, you weren't exactly social and most of the time it just felt fake or forced, but now?

You were genuinely glad to have met these guys. You made a mental note to thank your landlord sometime, if he hadn't woken you up when he did, you may not have met these eccentric skeletons.

For once in your life... You weren't just content. You were happy, you felt lucky, you felt... Different. 

different didn't always have to be a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many mistakes did'ja guys find? XD imma read this in the morning and find like 40 i swear.


	5. Feeling The Void

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a stupid, guys.  
I have about 5 billion notes on my phone [where I write the majority of my works while I'm at work] and yesterday I was going through them, deleting ones I didn't need… because there is sooo much.  
And… I did a stupid, am ashamed.  
I had the entirety of chapter 5 finished with just some editing and additions to make  
I deleted it... On accident, because I didn't label it correctly.  
It was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever encountered. Literally guys. I was almost in tears.  
So this chapter took longer than expected since I had to rewrite everything… hopefully, it still comes across good. Moral of the story: MAKE BACKUPS. I’ve never had the energy to make backups before. Now? You can bet your ass ill be making at least 2 of them.

_Start me up_

_ Open my eyes _

_ Turn me loose and you'll see why _

_ I was born, born ready _

_ I was born, born ready _

_ Staring at the pressure now _

_ I won't quit, not backing down _

_ I was born, born ready _

_ I was born, born ready _

**Zayde Wolf - Born Ready**

_ **V LINK V** _

_ ** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGdHAyM6FZY> ** _

* * *

-

4:15 AM

-

You awoke with a start, echoes of a scream scratching at your throat, you felt sweat at the back of your neck, dampening your hair. There was the ghost of fingertips clutched around your throat, and a lingering sting in your abdomen. Your body was shaking, your breathing rugged, you couldn't remember your nightmare, but it left traces of fear and terror coursing throughout your entire being. You hadn't felt like that since the first few times you’d fought, it left you assuming you'd dreamt about one of them. 

You reached out without thinking, snagging up the cigarette Stretch had given you on your nightstand. You were trembling, trying to strike a match and failing, the fire went out twice before you managed to finally light the cigarette fully.

The taste of menthol flowed down your throat, a raging river of smoke. It calmed you down, nerves sedated by the rush of nicotine. You'd have to thank Stretch later. You were once addicted to cigarettes in your, even younger, years. You kicked the habit after your parents flipped out, and since hadn't bothered to pick up a pack.

You missed the way it felt, and you knew after this one, you'd go back to your old habits.

A blue light gently blinked on your phone, signaling messages. You noticed this after gaping at the TV, trying to figure out where that flicker of blue reflecting off the screen was coming from. You never got texts, so you practically dove to your nightstand to scoop up your phone, half expecting some notification for a game. It wasn't, Blue had texted you, somewhere around an hour ago. You checked the time. Four AM, what was the kid doing up so late? 

Had he been struck by a nightmare, same as you? 

You realized talking to the small ball of energy was just what you needed to settle your mind.

You flicked your ashes into the trashcan by your bed, popping the cigarette into your mouth as you opened up the messages. Your brows furrowed when you looked at the image he’d sent, followed by a paragraph of all-capital text. The image was of a bird, it looked like a raven, staring in through his bedroom window. 

He'd gone on a rant about how it watched him all night and didn't leave until he opened the window and fed it some popcorn. How strange, but it almost didn't surprise you.

If anyone could make friends with a bird, it would be Blue.

**[Y/n]-** Wow! Birds are pretty smart animals, some of them can copy voices and speak, too. 

You sat your phone down on your lap, finishing off the cigarette in steady puffs, waiting for anything to happen in the dark box that was your room. You were tired and you'd gone to bed only a few hours ago, but the leftover nervousness from your dream told you that sleep wouldn't be coming anytime soon.

A bath sounded nice right about now. 

You stretched out your limbs, going as far as to shout progressively as you moved, uncaring about whether or not you’d wake the neighbors. You'd just managed to slip your feet off the bed when your phone vibrated on your crotch. You winced, quickly snagging it before the third trill could rile up any early morning demons. Your phone vibrate option was pretty soft, but… still.

**[Blueberry]-** I WANT ONE!

You weren't expecting him to reply, then again, it wasn't like you were expecting to get texts in the first place. Part of your mind wondered why he was still up, it was a weekday, didn't he have school in the morning or work… or something? 

You _ probably _ shouldn't be assuming he was a child just because of his size and personality.

He could’ve been a full-fledged adult for all you knew. You couldn't pretend to know how they worked, you weren't a …Monster...ologist…

You checked Google Maps and found a pet store in the city, you copied and pasted the address.

**[Y/n]- **I'm not sure that they have talking ones but I've seen birds in this store before. 

_ zzzt _

**[Blue]-** DO YOU KNOW A LOT ABOUT BIRDS? 

You were taken aback, realizing now that setting your phone down to get up was not an option if you wanted to at least try to hold a conversation. You’d always been more willing to interact when it was over the internet, or in this case, messages. You stared through your open door to look at your bathroom, the nightlight inside barely reached past the kitchen. 

You didn't _ need _ to take a bath this _ instant _, did you? 

You had nothing to do today, your immediate future was an empty book full to the brim with blank pages, a few notes scribbled in between. Nothing. You sat back against your pillows, throwing your feet up onto the sheets.

**[Y/n]-** not really, I'm more of a cat person.

_ zzzt _

**[Blue]-** CATS ARE AMAZING! I REMEMBER PAPYRUS BROUGHT A STRAY HOME ONCE WHEN WE FIRST GOT HERE. IT KEPT STARING AT US, FROM LIKE, HALF BEHIND THINGS! IT WAS SUPER WEIRD.

**[Y/n]-** Cats are mysterious, they do have to stare in their personality though. When I was a kid we had a cat who'd sleep in drawers and sit at your feet like an obedient dog. Her name was Rouge. What was the strays' name?

_ zzzt _

**[Blue]-** HIS NAME WAS CLAW! BECAUSE HE HAD BIG CLAWS. STRETCH SAID THEY WERE GRITHY, I THINK THAT MEANS WIDE?.

You snickered, something told you monsters weren't too great at naming things. 

**[Y/n]-** Do you still have him? 

_ zzzt _

**[Blue]- **NO, RED FED HIM CHOCOLATE ON ACCIDENT AND HE GOT SICK! THE SHELTER TOOK HIM IN, IT WAS VERY SAD, I CRIED FOR WEEKS!

Your brows furrowed as you tried to imagine Blueberry crying over a cat, and you understood. You were grateful the animal hadn't died, the poor guy probably would have been much worse off. 

Two hours soared by, Dusk made itself known by bleeding its dull light through the cracks of your curtains. You talked about his family, how he lived in a mansion with his cousins. He spoke about each one of them, giving pros and cons, nearly a paragraph each time. You smiled, when he got to Edge and just wrote: “AND THEN THERE'S EDGE, HE'S SO ANGRY ALL THE TIME! AND MOODY!” You had a hint that they all knew each other, you felt better having that question answered. Somehow, you managed to meet all of them. In under two days. You briefly wondered if any other humans were having the same skeleton problem as you, but Blue didn’t mention any, and you felt, with how open he was, that he would've said something about another human ‘friend.’

You were curled up under your blanket, sitting in blackness, with nothing but your phone's screen as light. There was a lazy smile on your face that barely wavered, one eye cracked open, the other, glued shut. You could have kept going, the innocent, enlightening conversations between the two of you pumped you up more than a cup of coffee could. Blueberry had to leave, as it turned out, he did have school. You felt a bit bad, keeping sleep away from him when he could've been resting, God knew you of all people understood what it was like to be at school after a night of sleeplessness, but alas, Blueberry reassured you that he was fine. 

You passed out in the middle of your goodbye text.

-

After some much wanted but not needed, sleep, you awoke the second time that day to a hardcore cigarette craving in the pit of your stomach. There was something else there, however. That craving you knew well. The itch down your spine that felt like bugs crawling across the ruts in your bones, beneath your skin. That prickly tickle that crawled straight up to your brain. 

You wanted to fight.

You almost... Needed to.

Mind already made up before you slipped off your worn bed, you found your phone, half-dead beneath the pillows and shot Edge a text.

[Y/n]- heading to the grounds. Leaving in 30 mins.

You got up and took a brief warm shower, unsure why you'd do such a thing when you were almost guaranteed to get filthy. When you stepped out you had a message waiting for you.

**[THE TERRIBLE EDGE]-** I wILL bE tHERR sHORTLY. 

_ What... The fuck? _

_ Alright then. _

Your adjusting brain blinked at the text style, did all skeletons text as they talked? Or did someone mess up his phones’ configuration and he didn't care enough to fix it? Or notice that anything was wrong? 

You decided to go with the latter of the two. Something was wrong with Edges' phone.

You put your phone on its charger and got dressed in some raggy clothes, your hoodie was staying home today: going through a much-needed wash. You had yourself a couple of cheese sticks as a snack, but you wouldn't eat a meal.

Fighting with a meal in your stomach wasn't a good idea, all that slowly digested food bouncing around, it was bound to come back up at a hard enough hit in the stomach. Throwing up was not on your agenda. 

Turning off all your lights, you slipped from your studio. Edge said that he would be there, it would take you a few minutes to walk, but not an extended amount of time. You locked your door, then turned around, foot out already anticipating the first step…

Instead crashed face-first into what felt like a brick wall. A flicker of white bone, red, black, silver. You hit your ass and stared up at the skeleton before you.

What’s your issue with legit running into skeletons? 

You didn't realize Edge meant he’d meet you _ here. _

Edge glared down at you, sharp smile tilted into a self-satisfied smirk. His hands on his hips, he made no move to help you up, the amusement in his sockets at your fall was enough to send a stab of anger through you.

_ Asshole. _

“HUMAN, YOU SHOULD NOT LOOK DOWN AT YOUR FEET WHEN YOU WALK!” He scolded down at you. You heaved yourself up.

"Skeleton, you shouldn't stand three feet away from someone's door when you know they're gonna walk out it!" You mimicked back, part of you was trying to hit the strength Edge voice was at... You'd need more practice, but it was a voice you wanted to use. Normal people had a ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ voice, you’d have an ‘Edge’ voice. Everyone will listen to you now.

"I SAID I WOULD BE HERE, DID I NOT?" 

_ That's some true shit right there. _

"I thought you meant The Grounds!" You defended/clarified, voice ending with a whine. Your face was heating up, the crave you already had nudging you like an arm to the side. It could have been caused by your anger, but inside you knew it was from pure embarrassment. You probably should've clarified beforehand...

"NO MATTER!" Edge declared, twisting in his spot his single-step passed the other three in its stride. Your short self had to paddle down each step "LET US GO." 

Edge walked proudly beside you, a bounce to his step, casting sly looks. His face, the face you assumed would never show any kindness, was screwed up in amusement and pride the entire way, like getting you to knock yourself over was the single most important joy in his life. 

The more you walked, the broader your smile became.

Okay, it had been funny. At least this time there was no danger of damaging a cheesecake, only your ass. 

-

You skipped the bar on your way, too eager for the rush of fighting to get a drink, the both of you choose to walk right up to Jeff. He looked the same as ever, standing there with that placid look on his face, eyes narrow, looking bored with the world and everything in it. His lip twitched up in the smallest of smiles upon seeing you. You had your pass already dangling around your neck. 

His smile faltered upon seeing Edge behind you. 

"Y/n. Edge." 

"IT’S THE TERRIBLE EDGE, YOU CRETIN." 

"My apologies, The terrible Edge." He said mockingly. The tone seemed to soar over the skeletons head, but you caught the crinkle of bone above his nasal ridge, almost in a sneer. Huh, that was weird. Could they move their face as you could use yours? You crinkled your nose. What would it be like to not have one? Just a hole? 

You shivered slightly then decided to divert all thoughts away from being nothing but bones.

_ Edge certainly fits his title _.

You were expecting Jeff to step aside and let the two of you go with no further words shared. He just stood there, though, looking thoughtfully at Edge, Well, as thoughtfully as Jeff could outwardly express. His brows were crinkled a little. 

“WHAT IS IT?” Edge pressed, looking downright livid by the bouncers staring, Jeff blinked, then looked directly at you, ignoring the skeleton. “Sorry, Y/n. Is this going to be a regular occurrence?” He swept his hand towards Edge, who rolled his eye lights at being ignored, the tall skeleton sighed, then crossed his arms and pointedly looked away.

“Uh, Probably? I'm planning on getting him his clearance.”

“Chief was hoping you’d come back with him, asked me to let him know when he returns.” His face lifted in a smile, a genuine smile, he struck his hand out to Edge, then bowed a little. “The Terrible Edge. let me be the first to congratulate you.” Edge stared at the man from slanted sockets, clearly trying to decipher whether or not this was serious. 

“ON… WHAT?”

“Being our first official Monster Grounder.” He stated. Edge fell out of his stupor and shook the man's hand. That sly smirk he wore earlier returned tenfold, you practically saw his self-esteem break its meter.

“WHY THANK YOU HUMAN! I AM GLAD THAT YOUR CHIEF HAS NOTICED HOW WICKED THE NEFARIOUSLY TERRIFYING EDGE CAN BE.” Jeff sidestepped smoothly away from the door after taking his hand back. Neither humans missed the way Edge wiped his hand off on his pants afterward. He even pulled a mildly revolted face, You had a feeling he’d be washing his bones the second he got some privacy. Jeff did not look offended, He’d returned to his blank face, You decided not to bring it up if Edge had a problem with germs, it wasn't your issue. You took the initiative and began down the stairs. 

Edge followed you as you lead him down the hall, past the spectators' entrance to the many rings. Down another flight of stairs: a small one. Into a small room that had several brand new computers. One single worker, she was the only one there. 

"Y/n!" The woman called. She was in her forties, thick freckles on her face. Her hair was long and straight, black. She wore glasses looking too large for her face. You tried to remember her name...

But names... Weren't your strong suit. 

"Hey, um...?" 

"Hayley." She said with a smile, unaffected by your lack of memory. It wasn't uncommon here; getting so many blows to the skull would cause some memory loss, in just about anyone.

"What can I help ya with? Did your badge expire?" 

"No no, I still got a year or so, I'm here to help my friend..." You paused, turning to introduce Edge, only to find the spot behind you empty. You frowned, then peeked your head out the open door. 

Edge was standing in the hallway, looking flustered and plagued with begrudging excitement. 

"Aw, you’re adorable when you're being awkward." You teased, he straightened, taking it as an insult. _ This was Edge, he probably took everything as an insult _. "I'M N-NOT AWKWARD." He rectified, then shove past you, striding into the room, he posed dramatically but... Awesomely.

"GREETINGS FILTH, I AM THE TERRIBLE AND GLORIOUS EDGE! I WOULD LIKE A PASS!" 

You laughed, the woman looked overburdened and struck silly by the sudden appearance of such a tall monster. She sputtered, cheeks tinting a furious rosy red the longer she looked. Heh, she may have looked normal, but she was definitely into the dark shit.

"Y/n... You vouch?" You nodded, The fluster poofing into a grin. You noticed now, something you hadn’t bothered to pay attention to. The people here… None of them seemed too distraught with the thought of being around a monster. Was it in a criminal's personality to accept potential danger? A ruse to get something stronger on their good side? Or was it possible… that the people here had evolved past the fears of difference? Hayles's voice snapped you back to awareness.

"Alright then Mr. Terrible and Glorious Edge.” She rounded her pristine desk and patted the chair close to her own. “Come sit. Before you can get that badge you need to be interviewed." Her eyes seemed to shift into a darker shade, from the way she tilted her head down to block some light from her face. “And you need to sign a confidentiality agreement.”

Fifteen minutes later Edge was grinning down at the small metal card in his hands. It had a pretty terrifying picture of him on the side, surrounded by a bone border. The name "THE TERRIBLE AND GLORIOUS EDGE" smack dab in the middle of it with all capital texts, in the small barely noticeable text below the name read. (Spectator only). He doesn't seem to care or notice it, as he proudly draped it around his neck. 

"There ya go, now you can get in without needing a gross human to help." You said, smiling contently. His look twisted but was otherwise unreadable from its usual position. 

"YOU ARE THE LEAST GROSS HUMAN I HAVE EVER MET." You assumed he hadn't met many humans then, you could get pretty gross.

"WHAT RING TODAY?" He continued, quickly brushing past the compliment. You hummed, unsure. You'd have to check the list first.

"I gotta check the lists but you're free to come with me, now that ya got that." You gestured to the badge, his posture got a little straighter. 

The fighters eyed Edge dangerously as he entered the prep room, some glaring, others sizing him up. You couldn't tell if it was racism or the general need to feel stronger than someone else. You had a feeling a couple of them wanted to go against Edge, just to do it. 

You checked the list and found something generally surprising. 

Your name was already written down, with a 1k reward beside it, already claimed. The name 'Void' scratched beside the claim box... Funny. You didn't write your name down; you never did. You were one of the people who came in and found someone, people didn't find you... Who marked you? Wasn't there a rule against it? 

Arena 3, you cringed.

It was one of the smallest rings they had, a little bigger than your average living room. 

"Arena 3," you told Edge, who growled softly beside you, somehow picking up your unease. He glared at the list, looking deep in thought. 

1k. 

At least it wouldn't be_ too _ easy. You weren't worried about _ that _. 

"YOU'RE MAKING A STRANGE FACE." Edge announced beside you, your eye twitched at the volume, and you rocked to your left to both get away from the closeness of his voice, and see him better. His sockets were narrowed, trying to see what you were seeing while he studied the whiteboard.

"Well, the list goes two ways." You began, pointing to teach him, though he'd never be able to do this since he was a monster. "You can write your name down yourself, with how much you think your fight is worth and what arena you'd like. Or, you can come in and just pick someone who is already written down. That's usually what I do, it's easier for me since I don't know how much I'm worth, and picking targets is just... It's better. Someone signed me up, and...They're not supposed to, exactly..." You paused, eyes skimming over time. The strangest feeling fluttered up your stomach, the time was five minutes from now. Someone had guessed that you'd be here at this exact time.

Who was this 'Void'?

"IS THAT LEGAL?" 

You laughed outright at that.

"Nothing about this place is legal, Edge." You were expecting him to yell at you for not using his title, but didn't, Edge took a step back and threw his arms across his chests. "YOU'RE WORTH MORE THAN 1K. I HAVE SEEN YOU FIGHT! WHO IS THIS VOID?" 

You wondered the same thing, despite that, you broke into a smile.

"Aw... Thanks, Edge." 

"DONT." He promptly said, throwing out a hand to stop your words. He spun on his heel and quickly stomped out. He didn’t like being thanked, and that struck you weirdly. It was the second time he reacted like that, Maybe one day you’d ask him why.

-

Your opponent was an older tan man, who wore a mask and a hood. You truly didn't know if he was a man or a woman, but the lack of bumps on his chest pointed you straight to male, so this was how you mentally addressed him. When the fight started, he spent the entire time dodging every move you made, all the while keeping his back straightened. The way he danced around you, put all earlier embarrassments to shame. He only struck out with a hand when you’d gotten too close to hitting him. Thus began the longest, most self-deprecating moment of your life. He didn’t speak, hardly made a sound. Everything about him made you nervous. What was he getting at?

When the first two minutes were up, without a knockout, one of the judges blew a single whistle. several items were tossed into the ring by ready spectators eager to get something of their own into the fight. Void had strayed from his dodging techniques to seize one of your punching fists and twist, he shoved you to the ground, then darted for a small object that clattered on the ground to his left. 

The object, it slipped into his hand, he held it perfectly in a loose hold, your eyes scanned over it as you stood to your full height. The weapon looked too good in his fleshy hands, they were made for one another. The silver dragon design coiled around the hilt sparkled against the light, it somehow drew your attention for a second too long. He sprinted at you, and you were nicked in the arm by the blade at your failed attempt to twist out of the way.

He was trying to _ stab _you.

Did he not care for the reward? 

He sliced at your stomach, you backstep, already feeling the piercing sting of the wound. How was he so damn quick? You kicked at his next advance, then spun, eyes darting to the items about. There had to be something.

In your panic to find an item that could block his wild but practiced swings, he'd recovered from your blow, and slid up behind you.

A slice to your shoulder blade.

Cut to your lower back.

A kick in the spine.

You fell, your body tingling with adrenalin, but broiling in pain. 

You looked out at the arenas wall close by, where a bone appeared, glowing slightly red in front of you.

_ Do something _.

_ You have to DO SOMETHING. _

You grabbed the bone with a powerful grip, and swung around, blocking the blow from the blade that would've sunk through your back had you hesitated a moment longer, it would have killed you. 

The bone held up under the pressure. 

You didn't wait to see how much it could take.

You kicked him straight in the balls and smashed the bone into his head, throwing yourself away from the madman to gain some distance so you could see where he’d attack from next. He chased after you, engaging you in speedy strikes that you could barely keep up with. 

Who the fuck is this guy? 

At that moment, you feared for your life. Scrambling away from that blade, using the bone to protect your softer spots every time he lunged for them. You were wasting too much energy guarding your arms and legs, he was only aiming for them to distract you when he feigned for the more sensitive areas 

Like your neck.

Your stomach.

Your heart.

_ He was trying to kill you. _

You didn't want to die.

He kicked himself off the arena wall, hooking his arm around your throat on the way down, you both crashed to the floor, the air popped from your lungs like a vigorously needled balloon.

You always felt a certain kind of safety fighting in the rings, knowing most of your opponents just wanted to knock you out and take home some money. Not once had you the fear of dying here.

Until now.

Your stomach felt warm, the arena was deathly quieted by the pounding of blood in your ears. You did the only thing you could do, you threw up your arms in surrender. The fight would stop, You’d be fine. It was until surrender or unconsciousness. It was a rule. 

Only.. the pain didn’t stop.

You were choking on blood, it was all you could taste... All you could smell.

A whistle, it barely registered in the numbness that took over your mind, you couldn't even scream with the intensity of the pain you were feeling. You couldn't see past the red tint of blood clouding your eyes.

The whistle of surrender, the pain should have stopped.

It didn’t. It kept going.

_ At least Edge had his pass now, he can come here without me, I'm not _ **needed** _ . _

You felt…

Satisfied. 

Then, you felt nothing.

_ Start me up _

_ Open my eyes _

_ Turn me loose and you'll see why _

_ I was born, born ready _

_ I was born, born ready _

_ Staring at the pressure now _

_ I won't quit, not backing down _

_ I was born, born ready _

_ I was born, born ready _

**Zayde Wolf - Born Ready**


	6. Savage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I turned my laptop's cursor into Reds face. 100% happy with myself right now.  
Mostly because if I don't touch the mouse, his face disappears, then as soon as I move it his face pops up like "wassup kitten?" XD I regret nothing.  
Anyway, short chapter, quick update but it was a good place to leave off, now I can take the next few days to make a bonding and fluff chapter, cuz reader deserves some fluff after what they've been through.

Edge POV.

Edge couldn't believe what he was seeing, or perhaps he didn't want to. The fight had been... Savage, to say the least. He'd be lying if he said he couldn't feel the intent of the other the moment he laid eyes on the straggly human. The way he moved reminded him of classic. 

His anxiety for the human he'd come to know only seemed to increase each second the other refused to let up on his attacks. He was fine with it, at first. This was how the place worked, right? What would a proper fight be without a struggle? 

The usually loud audience around him quieted the second the masked man picked up the blade, he proceeded to attack you in an eerily calm, professional manner. 

When you surrendered, the man didn't stop. Edge watched the blade sink into your stomach three, four, five times while you laid struggling, hopeless on your back in rapid, even when the judges blew the whistle, and the bouncers scrambled onto the floor to stop the battle. The human didn't stop. The bouncers were afraid to approach him and did so warily, they were taking too long, you'd be dead at this rate. 

Edge had enough. 

He couldn’t watch this undignified slaughter.

He stood up, and threw out a bone barrier separating you from your attacker, it sent the masked man flying backward, after being hit in the jaw by the blunt end of his bones. The crowd gasped at the magic display, but no one stopped him when he strode to the edge of the arena and leaped over the fence separating the spectators from the fighters. 

The man's chest heaved with strong breaths after his exertion. Edge's glare never left him, even as he bent down and scooped up your paling form. 

"YOU FIGHT WITH NO HONOR." The masked man's eyes narrowed from beneath his hood, glaring through the bone wall keeping him away from finishing the job. He shifted from foot to foot, antsy, but not in a nervous way. It made the Edge uneasy.

Edge kept that bone barrier up until he exited the ring and the gates closed behind him.

Dark red blood stained his bones, in the back of his mind, he cringed at the disgusting display. Outwardly? He didn't so much as flinch as the lifeblood created rivers down the length of his radius only to drip from his elbows. 

He found a corner in the prep room to set you down. You were barely breathing, just enough to prove you were alive. He pulled up your shirt, eye lights focused as he inspected the damage. The minor cuts and scrapes were not a problem. 

The five stab wounds in your stomach were. 

He hovered his hand over your wounds, silent, letting his red magic blend in with your blood. Healing magic was not his strong suit, but he managed to close the wounds and stop the bleeding.

The major bleeding.

He lifted your form again, princess style, the way you hung limply in his grip made his soul quiver. You were so light, too light. 

He left through the back exit, and as he walked you home, he kept asking himself the same question.

Why did you do this to yourself?

In the underground - _ his  _ underground, he fought because it was kill or be killed, he had no choice but to grow up in a world were fighting to the death was the only means of survival. But here… on the surface, life didn’t have to be that way. Edge had only been in classics world for a few months, and there were still things he was trying to get used to, but one thing that stood out amongst everything else… was the peace. 

You didn’t have to do this to survive. 

So why do it at all?

-

Noise swam in and out of your ears, the sound of clinking silverware, and something boiling in the distance. You rolled over, trying to distance yourself from these sounds to catch a few more minutes of blissful sleep.

_ Mom must be cooking dinner, it smelt like spicy chicken. _

You moaned against your pillow as awareness crept back into your brain, moms spicy chicken sandwiches were the best, you'd never been a fan of spicy foods, but every time you smelt that mild sauce it made you drool.

Wait... You didn't live with your mom. You hadn't in years.

You shifted, opening up your eyes, you saw your room, the same walls covered in posters, the same TV, the same couch. The clanking noises in the background were still there.

Someone was... Here?

You shifted to get off your bed but cried out in agony the second you moved. You clutched your stomach, every breath sent waves of pain throughout your body. Hard footsteps, your door was thrown open, for fear of being murdered in your bed, you screamed and dove beneath your blankets, like they would protect you from a knife.

"HUMAN!" The voice yelled over your own. You hid your face, mind detached, the world spinning, were you still screaming? Yeah, you were, it was all you could hear. 

"HUMAN, SHUT UP!" That got you, you pulled your face away from the blankets, blurry vision picking out the form of Edge, in his all his Edgy glory.

"Wha...?" Your voice broke off... Speaking hurt. Speaking hurt a lot. 

"LAY BACK DOWN, YOU'RE INJURED." Edge demanded. He stomped over to your bedside pushed you down gently into a laying position, his hands on your shoulders. You let him do this, too out of it to protest. Did he give you medication? Were you drugged right now?

"YOU'VE LOST A LOT OF BLOOD." He informed you. 

Oh, that's probably it.

Then it all came barreling back, the fight, the masked man, the pain. 

You lost another fucking fight. Edge had seen you lose, god, what a mess.

Edge had seen you lose…

Edge… was also in your _ house _ .

You draped an arm over your face and groaned. Why the hell was that guy so determined to kill you?

"I'VE COOKED YOU SOUP, THE INTERNET SAYS IT HELPS HEAL SICK HUMANS." He left and came back a short minute later with a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup. He set it on your nightstand, unable to look you in the eye. 

"I WILL BE IN THE LIVING ROOM." With that, he left, having to duck down to make it past the short doorframe. 

You waited for the soup to cool down before reaching out and pulling it onto your lap, your phone blinked at you, and you realized you never brought it to the grounds. You snagged it up and skimmed over the several lines of worried texts sent by Blue. That's when you noticed the day.

_ You'd been out for an entire day.  _

_ You have missed messages from Friday, August 23rd.  _

**[2:10 PM [Blue]- ** I AM HOME HUMAN Y/N! HOW WAS YOUR DAY?

**[2:56 PM][Blue]- ** YOU MUST BE SLEEPING, I HOPE YOU SLEEP WELL.

**[4:06 PM][Blue]- ** ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING? YOU KNOW IT'S UNHEALTHY TO SLEEP FOR SO LONG.

**[5:21 PM][Blue]- ** ARE YOU IGNORING ME? DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG?

**[5:46 PM][Blue]- ** I’M SORRY FOR SPAMMING I'M JUST A LITTLE WORRIED.

**[7:37 PM][Blue]- ** I KNOW YOU'RE PROBABLY BUSY BUT STRETCH IS GONNA TAKE ME TO THE PARK TOMORROW, DO YOU WANT TO COME WITH US? IT’LL BE FUN!

**[10:30 PM][Blue]- ** EDGE HAS BEEN GONE ALL DAY, TOO, HE HASN'T TEXTED OR CALLED OR ANYTHING. DID SOMETHING HAPPEN?

**[11:03 PM][Blue]- ** I'M GOING TO BED, GOODNIGHT Y/N.

_ You have missed messages from Saturday, August 24th. _

**[7:05 AM][Blue]- ** GOOD MORNING Y/N! EDGE DIDN’T COME HOME LAST NIGHT. REDS REALLY WORRIED, HE STILL HASN'T ANSWERED HIS PHONE, IS HE WITH YOU BY ANY CHANCE? 

**[8:10 AM][Blue]- ** I know I don't know you well but I hope you’re okay.

**[8:30 AM][Stretch]-** this is stretch, blueberries bro, he's pretty upset about you not responding if you're ignoring him on purpose… we're gonna have an issue. 

**[9:20 AM][Blue]- ** please be okay. I miss texting you.

**[11:30 AM][Blue]- ** STRETCH IS TAKING ME TO THE PARK SOON, I ASKED HIM TO WAIT FOR A FEW HOURS, BECAUSE I STILL HOPE YOU CAN COME. HE DOSN’T LIKE THAT YOU'RE NOT RESPONDING BUT ITS PROBABLY BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN BUSY ALL NIGHT LET ME KNOW, OKAY? 

That was the last text sent, it was one-thirty now. Your heart clenched at the visible pain you caused this total stranger, guilt had your stomach-turning. You finished off your soup and put the empty bowl back on the nightstand. 

It didn’t excuse the fact that Edge was ignoring his family as well, you, being out for the count, had a perfect excuse. Edge didn’t, he could have at least reassured his cousins that they were okay.

Part of you wanted to go to the park, but as you moved to test your body's pain scale, you decided you would be lucky to make it to the bathroom. 

Void did a number on you. 

You spaced out as you remembered last night, the images vivid in your mind, still fresh and clear. Though after you blacked out, you had no idea what had happened.

You couldn't think about that.

You opened up the texts and clicked in your response.

**[1:35 PM][Y/n]- ** I’m soooooo sorry Blue, I left my phone at home and I had a rough night. Edge is here making sure I get better. I’d love to go to the park with you but I need to rest.

_ Zzzt _

**[1:36 PM][Blue]- ** EDGE IS WITH YOU? YOU HAD A ROUGH NIGHT? ARE YOU HURT? WHERE DO YOU LIVE? I WANNA COME HELP!

You debated on whether or not having another skeleton in your home in your state was a good idea, if Blue came, you did not doubt that Stretch would be coming with him. In the end, you ended up consulting your current skeleton nurse about the idea. You took a deep breath, already cringing from the pain it brought.

“EDGE CAN BLUEBERRY AND STRETCH COME OVER?” 

You couldn't believe you were asking Edge for permission to invite others over to  _ your _ house. But you knew Edge better than the rest of them, and despite his obvious nature, he’d taken you home and cared for you, healed you, and watched over you while you were down for the count. He may have been tough and scary on the outside, but honestly? He was a giant softy.

“ABSOLUTELY NOT.” Edge roared from the living room. 

You returned to your messages, smirking. 

**[1:40 PM][Y/n]- ** I could use some light company, here's my address.

  
  
  



	7. Buckle up, butter cup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three updates in 3 days? jeez, I'm on a roll. Probably 'cuz I've had the last three days off. I should wait to post this one but... I couldn't wait to.

Blueberry informed you that they’d be there around two-thirty. You allowed yourself to relax, the thought of having company over made your skin crawl… you were well aware of the blood clinging to your skin, it felt like cement dried to your flesh. You were still wearing the same red soaked clothes that you had yesterday, the smell was not pleasant… now that you focused on it. You couldn't let anyone see you like this, Yet, you couldn’t gather the strength to make it to your bathroom, could you even make it to your drawers to change? 

You cringed, you hated to admit it, but you needed help.

“Hey, Edge?” you called through the open door, you heard the squeak of that bad spring on your living room couch then footsteps, Edge appeared in your door frame a moment later, slightly hunched. 

“YES?” He quarried, voice lacking its bite as he looked over your weakened form. Your shoulders rose a bit as you began. “Could you um… maybe, like, get a bucket of water and some clothes from my drawer? I need to clean myself up and I don't think I can make it to the bathroom.” 

“OF COURSE, HUMAN.” He made his way to your drawers, as embarrassed as you should have been, watching the tall skeleboy pick through your clothing, you didn't feel all that upset. He kept a straight, neutral face as he carefully picked a shirt, sweatpants, and even a pair of underwear. He left it on the foot of your bed and came back a few minutes later with a bowl of soapy water. 

You reached out to begin your cleaning, only for Edge to pull the bucket back. 

“DONT BE EXERT YOURSELF, Y/N, I CAN DO THIS.” He reassured you, and you sighed. You had no real strength to protest against him… he had healed you, as much as he could, and though it had been a lot- you weren't dead, but you could now see that his magic had its limits. 

He sat on the edge of your bed and reached out for your arm, he soaked the cloth in the soapy water and began gently… oh so gently, rubbing the caked blood from your skin. You relaxed against the touch, unused to having someone take care of you like this.

“I would like to check your bandages.” He stated, and your eyes flung open at the soft tone in his voice. So he _could_ talk like a normal person? How could you say no to that? 

It wasn't like you had anything to hide from him, you didn't care how he saw you.

You didn't miss the red dusting of a blush on his face as you removed your shirt and sat the tattered rag to the side. You felt your face heat up at the implication, now sitting mostly bare before him. He took it like a champ.

He finished cleaning the blood from your other arm then looked over your torso, the bandages were mostly fresh, some red seeped through at certain points, it must've reopened in your sleep. He reached behind you, and you sat up straight as he quietly unraveled the bandages. You held your breath, even the slightest movement against your wounds causing pain. He tried his best, for a giant intimidating skeleton, he could be very gentle in his work, as you've come to understand.

“THIS~ this will sting,” he said, and with no further warning, began wiping the access blood away from your barely healed stab wounds. You hissed, trying not to cry out in front of him. Gods, this WAS embarrassing. You always prided yourself on being stronger than your average human, but right now… You felt like a broken child.

It took several slow minutes for Edge to finish his careful work, he applied a clean bandage to the wounds and continued to clean the stained blood around your body, your sides. You hummed, it came out more like a breathy moan.

You were touch starved, yes. You hadn't once in your life been intimate with anyone. You were still a virgin, and in your line of work, you sometimes had to protect that innocence with your life. Your eyes lingered over the skeleton's face, taking in the scar, the sharp teeth, the furrowed eyelids displaying his concentration. You wanted to thank him, you never wanted to thank someone so badly, but you were afraid of how he would react, giving the last few times you tried and he denied you. 

Edge cleaned off the cloth then reached up, he hesitated, eye lights locking with yours, caught staring, he didn’t move, and you took your chance.

You reached out and cupped one of his cheeks, he flinched at the touch and nearly pulled away, he would have, if you hadn't stroked your thumb across his chin. The feeling of his bones beneath your fingers was new and exciting, but you weren't doing this to explore. 

“Thank you.” you breathed, his eye lights lit up brighter, and he pulled a face, he tried to pull away, _ again, _but you stopped him by reaching up with your other hand to cup his face fully, keeping him in place. 

“Just accept it please, this is more than anyone has done for me in a while.” his face twisted, but his brow lids lowered comfortably, he didn't smile, he still had that neutral look on his face.

After a moment of just… letting it happen, he let out a sigh.

“You’re welcome,” he replied. Then, to your surprise, he reached up with his hand and used the cloth to wipe some spare blood from your forehead. You let your hands lower as he ran the cloth down your cheek, across the skin of your neck. You hadn’t had the chance to look in the mirror, but you knew your lifeblood must be EVERYWHERE. 

You leaned into his touch, trusting him at that moment, something you couldn't recall doing with anyone else before. He cleaned your shoulders, lingering at your collarbone, he tipped your face upwards and cleaned under your chin. When he was done, he set the cloth down in the murky red water but kept his digit under your chin.

“Why?” he asked, and you blinked. Looking into those eye lights, those captivating, tiny orbs…

“Why what?” 

“Why do you fight like you don’t have a choice?” the question struck you harder than you would like to admit: so hard, that you pulled away from his hand like you’d been punched. No one had questioned your motives before, you didn't question your motives, it just felt right to you. Each time you stepped into the arenas you felt happy. 

Happy enough to want to pursue it constantly. You'd gotten so used to it that you craved it, you were addicted to it, the pain, the glory, the strength you felt when you were able to overpower someone with your skills, with help from no one but yourself. The pride that overcame your heart as you stood up straight before a sea of mixed faces with the defeated laying crumpled at your feet, the money you earned, the status. Every time the people roared your name when you came out victorious it was exhilarating, it was~ 

_ Why? _

“I…” You broke off. _ Why? _Because you took pleasure in it? Because you wanted to? Did you like pain? No… you didn't like pain, but you didn't mind it.

“Because I want to,” you said more confidently then you felt. For a second, Edges' eye lights disappeared, they reappeared so quickly that you instantly doubted that they’d gone out in the first place.

_ What was that? _

Edge stood up from your bed, so swiftly it set off your defenses, he scooped up the dirty water, as well as your tattered shirt and moved for the door. “YOU SHOULD GET DRESSED, HUMAN.” He ordered, voice returning to normal, the sound relaxed you, yet, you couldn't help but feel like you’d said something wrong. “I WILL SEE TOO IT THAT YOUR CLOTHES ARE CLEAN.” And with that, he left. 

You watched him throw your rags into the washing machine next to your bathroom and continued to watch him while he tidied up your house through the open door. Not that you minded a personal maid, the actions of cleaning seemed to help the tall skeleton relax, so you didn't protest. You were too weak to call him back and apologize for whatever you’d said that had struck a nerve. You changed out of your clothes without leaving the covers, then settled back in your bed. Your phone read two pm, your eyes were too heavy to keep them open. You let them close and drifted off, fully intending to nap away the guilty sting throbbing in your chest.

-

The sound of glass shattering woke you violently from your nap. 

“OH GREAT, LOOK AT WHAT YOUVE DONE.” Edge? Oh right, Edge was here, taking care of you. Why was he yelling? You blinked the sleep from your eyes, shifting as you tried to listen in

“what I did? heh, ain't my fault ya’ dropped it, _ jack. _” wait, what? You heard that voice before, you rolled over in your bed and peeked through the open door, but couldn't see anyone from your limited range. The voice was too low to be Blueberry… Sketch? Stitch? Starch? 

“PRAY TELL, _ SKUNK _, HOW EXACTLY IS THIS MY FAULT?” Edge roared, you could hear his boots take a single stomp. You imagined a child throwing a tantrum.

“ya grabbed at it with those giant razors fingers.” 

“GUYS.” You heard Blueberry try, his voice sounding desperate.

“MAYBE IF YOU WERENT TRYING TO TAKE IT FROM ME~”

“that one's mine, _ fuckfell _.” 

“YOURS? OH _ SOR-RY _ .” You pictured Edge with his hands on his hips, cocking said hip to the side as he continued. “I WAS UNAWARE THAT THIS _ EXACT _ FUCKING DINNER PLATE HAD YOUR NAME ON IT.”

“LANGUAGE, EDGE! STOP YELLING Y/N IS TRYING TO SLEEP!” Blueberry erupted, you heard a tiny bang, he must've smashed his fist onto a surface to empathize his point. You quickly checked your phone, 2:45, how long had they been here? Honestly, with just how loud they were, you were surprised it took them this long to wake you up. 

Blueberry went ignored.

“‘S orange, clearly, that makes it mine.” Starch replied, his tone light, you got the feeling he was greatly amused at the scene he was potentially causing.

“ALL I DID WAS PULL IT OUT OF THE CUPBOARD.” 

“now ‘s on the ground. Broken, jus’ like your face.” a snicker.

“BECAUSE YOU PRIED IT AWAY FROM ME WITH THOSE SKINNY TOOTHPICKS _ YOU CALL _ FINGERS.” 

“GUYS!” Blueberry tried again.

“‘leas’ they ain't giant swords. surprised ya can keep a hold on anythin’” 

“AT LEAST I CAN PROTECT MYSELF WITH THEM.”

“‘sure, but you’d have a damn hard time pleasuring a lady with’em, no girls gonna want blades up her pussy.”

“STRETCH, THAT'S DISGUSTING.” Blue cried out, horrified.

“Is it a lie tho?” The silence that rang out was so prominent you could taste it, you could, also, taste Edge glowering from here. You cleared your throat, unable to hide the giant smile on your face. You bit your one of your fingers to control yourself and stopped when you managed to sedate the giggles you wanted to release. 

“Is everything okay in there?” You called.

The response was instantaneous, like a nuke going off in your kitchen. 

“STRETCH BROKE ONE OF YOUR PLATES~” Edge summarized

“YES EVERYTHINGS OKAY Y/N~” Blue began

“edge is blaming everyone but himself, as usual,” Stretch added

“WE’RE~” Blue continued

“I AM NO~”

**“~JUST** **MAKING YOU DINNER!**~” Blueberry finished frustrated, his voice getting _even louder _at the end to cancel out whatever Edge was trying to shove in. Your neighbors were, no doubt, about ready to call in a noise complaint.

Who boy, You’re in for it now.


	8. Blood And Guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I have a couple of things to go over!  
First of all, let me start with this. I’ve added a note to the first chapter regarding this story since there are plenty of readers who return to this story~ I'm going to put it here, in the latest chapter so that you can all get on the same page.
> 
> I will be having a poll for who you all want to be the focus for the next character arch, and also, whether or not you want Blue (and) or Papyrus to be romantic interests! (Might be a little strange for blue since, here, he IS in fact, a minor/adolescent. However~ im sure i can work around that and make it as innocent/light as I can, so it doesn't make it weird!) Also, Should i remake the title into one of the “Six skeletons and the…” stories? Ive seen that there are a bunch of them here, and im sure my story will fit! Polls will be up until the end of the first arch! 
> 
> Alright, my lovely readers, time for some updates.  
1] This is going to be a pretty long story, and the way I've planned it, It's going to take some time for Reader to be romantically involved with all of our skelebaes. It's going to go one at a time, each one taking several chapters to develop, each skeleton has his own arch, his own plot that will help Reader with their emotional development which will, ultimately, lead into the relationship. [There will be bonding with all of them in all chapters, though] We're starting off with Edge. If you're not into VERY slow burns and long fanfictions... I suggest you stop after this first chapter. This is going to take a while.  
I'm doing this because, to me, relationships should not be an instant thing, feelings should not happen at the snap of a finger. it should be nurtured, grown, and realized throughout a story. I hate rushing something like that~ love is too precious to force in an instant. Because of this, any (significant) smut is far off.  
2] The skeletons are not sexually charged, they won't crawl all over you and beg for you to love them: not at first at least (Aside from Red, probably, because... Well, he's _ Red_). This isn't about soulmates, or whatever you'd like to call them, it's about developing love through friendship. [ex. friends to lovers] on a much larger scale.  
3] PLEASE READ TAGS. I'm going to update them every chapter, but this fic is pretty violent, and graphic (?)(not bragging or anything x'D) If those kinds of things bother you, then don't read: it happens very often, ESPECIALLY within the first two archs. You have been warned.  
Thank you all for pressing on this work and giving it a read, I hope I can give you all some entertainment, or a worthy fic to binge on a weekend.  
4] We're only on chapter seven and we are in for a long ride, so buckle up, and as always. I'm up for suggestions. Being able to incorporate your ideas into my writing is what I thrive for. I'm not telling just any story, I'm telling 'Your' story. so if you have any suggestions for things you'd like to see (little scenes, interactions, dialogue) ANYTHING, even something as big as a sub-pot, I will gladly write down any and all you care to give me and figure out a way to incorporate it into this work. You will be given credit.  
Have an amazing day/evening/night my readers.  
Enjoy the chapter!  
-Soundwaves  
(poll links at the start of the chapter)

Character focus for arch 2

<https://strawpoll.com/4hh9g3yk>

Blue/paps romantic interests

<https://strawpoll.com/44whe119>

Rename the title...?

<https://strawpoll.com/yekz94wk>

* * *

Blueberry bound into your room, Stretch and Edge on his heels, Probably ready to spew a bunch of excuses for why they broke one of your plates. Before they could reach the room, however, the adorable little thing spun on his heel to slam the door shut in their faces.

"YOU TWO NEED TO TALK OUT YOUR DIFFERENCES LIKE ADULTS!" He demanded, pushing his back against the door. He gave you a wink as you watched his entire 50-pound body hold off the 'invaders.' You smiled at him with a tilted head.

"don't leave me out here with him," Stretch begged, his tone honest enough to convince you that he was seriously upset with the idea. 

"TO BAD! YOU WANT TO ARGUE WITH EACH OTHER LIKE BABYBONES? YOU CAN STAY OUT THERE AND SULK WHILE Y/N AND I HAVE AN _ AMAZING _ TIME." More complaints, nothing audible. Edge was being oddly quiet, part of you felt he'd already left the scene. 

"GO HELP EDGE WITH DINNER. AND CLEAN YOUR MESS." Blueberry finished, his voice leaving no room for protest. He stood there for several more seconds, you could only guess that he was making sure that Stretch had left. 

Then, with an infectious smile, he leaped away from the door.

"Y/N!" He cried, sounding much too excited with the aspect of you being there, with him when this was the second time you've seen him in both your lives. 

“Heya Blue.” You sniggered. It felt like, at that moment, you'd been friends for far longer than you were.

He hopped up onto the foot of your bed, climbing over the wooden post like a little spider monkey and started wrapping your blankets around his battle body, already getting comfortable. You tossed a pillow at him so he could have something other than the hardwood of your bed frame to support his back. Who would've thought the kid you stumbled into days ago, would be sitting, curled up on your bed just after the second meeting? Not you that's for sure.

When he finally settled, he looked at you, his wide, excited starry eyes changed back into their normal swollen blue orbs. He had a fist full of the blanket tucked under his chin, with his knees seemingly pulled up to his chest, big blue eye lights lingering what he could see of you. Fucking god, this guy was going to be the death of you, Was his charming demeanor an act? Or was this for real?

Silence rang out within the room as he openly inspected you.

...

...

…

...

"WOWIE, Y/N! YOU LOOK TERRIBLE." He stated cheerfully. 

You sucked in a breath...

Then promptly laughed your ass off, so hard that it hurt, even worse, you were jostling your wounds and the pain brought tears to your eyes, but you couldn't stop now that you started. It was like the dam to your heart broke, and years worth of suppressed laughter came barreling out at once at just those stupid words.

The likelihood of this kid getting a girlfriend was very, _ very _small.

Blue nervously mwheh'd with you, clearly not understanding what was so damn funny regarding what he had said. His orbs darted left and right. 

You clutched your burning stomach and winced when you finally managed to calm down. Oh, it hurt, it hurt very much, but it was worth it.

"Awh... Thanks, Blue.” You wheezed. “That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me." You took shallow breaths to avoid the sting that came with heavy breathing. You reached up to swipe a tear from your cheek, still smiling. Your hand left a cold trail across your skin, almost like it had gotten we~ wait, what?

Blue sockets widened, at that, you automatically looked down at your hand. A deep crimson stared back at you. 

You lifted your blanket, the laughing must've done more damage than you thought: you could see fresh blood leaking through your shirt, through the bandages Edge just applied. Edge healed them, hadn’t he? Why was it this bad? The magic worked on your other wounds… so why not these?

Probably because your previous injuries were only skin deep~ aside from the hole in your arm, which, healed instantly with only a scar to prove it had ever been there. You told yourself you didn't care, as you zoned out, watching the blood spread across the bandages white surface. You got hurt, you healed. It happened. You were alive right now, so you would be alright, just like every other time.

...Right?

“Y/N?” You blinked, pale face lifting to meet Blue’s worried gaze. He’d abandoned the end of the bed and was now leaned towards you, worry etched all over his skull, one hand outstretched, reaching for you. “THATS…. THAT'S A LOT OF BLOOD, WHAT HAPPENED?” He was loud, you tried to block out his face mentally as you fumbled through your brain for an excuse. It used to be so easy, lying to people: but those were strangers, this…

You suddenly remembered exactly why you stopped having friends upon starting at The Grounds.

You pulled your blanket up to cover the evidence, feeling that telltale pressure in your brain you sometimes got when you were close to blacking out. “I got… hit… by a car?” Blues worried look dropped into a deadpan face, it would've been funny under different circumstances. Good job, y/n, Just give yourself away, why dontcha? His sockets lidded, clearly showing his suspicion. Regardless, he decided to trust you at that moment. Blue pulled his hand away and leaned back, very slowly. 

You felt sick with guilt.

It never hurt this bad to lie to strangers.

“WHAT DID THE DOCTORS SAY? IS THAT MUCH BLEEDING NORMAL?” You licked your lips, this time, the lie came easier. 

“Yeah, I got cut by a bunch of glass.” You began, voice wavering only a tiny bit. “He said it'll bleed before it heals, just have to keep it clean and be still.” His smile returned. “THEN I, THE MAGNIFICENT BLUEBERRY WILL MAKE IT MY GOAL TO KEEP YOU AS STILL AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE!” He said triumphantly, he scrambled back out from the covers and onto the floor, where he went over to your television. He turned the thing on its stand so it was facing you fully, he tipped the couch with it so it was symmetrical with the TV. You watched him complete this, eyebrow arched. Strong little thing, wasn't he? When he finished, he put his gloved hands on his hips and surveyed his work. A knock came to the door, pulling him out of it.

“DINNER IS DONE, OPEN UP.” came Edges' voice. Blue opened the door: just a crack, you watched his line of sight automatically drag upwards to follow Edges length. When he let the two in, they each carried a plate. Edge came straight up to the other side of your bed and claimed that spot. Stretch, who gave you a tiny smile: decided to sit on the floor on the other side of you, rather than on the perfectly good couch.

It had all happened so fast, you didn't exactly know what to say or do, your conversational skills weren't the best, but it seemed Blueberry had taken charge, he searched the drawers under your TV. where all your games and movies were, he picked through them. Your plate was set on your lap, courtesy of Edge.

Stake, garlic potatoes, corn, garlic bread… How did they make this so quickly? It smelled amazing, so you didn’t complain, as you eagerly picked up your fork and dug in. 

Edge kept giving you side glances, after the fourth one you decided to pointedly look at him. “Yes, Edge?” 

“HOW IS IT?” He replied, speaking smaller than normal. 

“Better than anything I've ever made, that's for sure.” You said, offering him a smile. 

“GOOD.” 

“i helped,” Stretch added, he was tall enough for you to see him, though he sat on the ground to your right. Blueberry pulled back from his searching and whipped around.

“WE ALL HELPED.” 

“Well, thanks, guys. It's great. It's nice of you to cook for someone who you barely know. And ya know, come over here and look after me” The last line was directed at Edge, you made sure to look at him as you said it. Edge, in turn, glared heatedly at your wall. You smiled at his antics. 

Blueberry finally picked a movie, he popped it into your gaming system and settled back in on the foot of your bed.

You could tell that you were eating monster food since every bite you took made your pain ease. You’ve tried monster food before, made sure to have some candy hidden in your room for your particularly bad fight nights. 

You all finished your food, very little attention was paid to the movie as you listened to the three of them talk and banter amongst themselves. Every now and again you'd join in with a comment of your own, but you mostly stayed quiet. Even after eating, your body still hurt, and you found it easier to breathe if you just stayed silent. That pressure in your skull refused to go away, though, and once the movie ended you realized one thing.

You… had to use the bathroom. 

Beside you, Edge was glaring at the TV. You couldn't tell if he was mad at it or just focused on it. He had his normal face displayed so it lead you to believe that he wasn't hating it. 

Cautiously, You reached out your hand and with a single finger, poked his cheekbone. 

Edge’s face whipped around to meet yours, both of his hands coming up to either block his face or smack away the offending object. Your finger went limp at his reaction. His eye lights darted from said finger to your face, a scowl appearing. 

“I gotta go potty.” You declared. 

Edge’s leaned back a little, mulling over your words. 

“YOU... WHAT?” He eyed you warily.

“I gotta go potty.” You clarified, your voice taking on a childish tone. You couldn't help it, it didn’t matter how old you were: This is what you said

Edge blinked. “WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?” 

“I have to use the bathroom, Edge.” You sighed out.

“O-OH. OKAY?” 

…

…

Edge hesitantly went back to looking at the television, clearly not understanding the implications of your words. You stared at him.

…

…

Sighing loudly, you directed your question to Stretch. He was already looked up at you, a repressed smirk on his teeth. You narrowed your eyes at him.

“I gotta go potty.” You repeated, this time a bit more seriously. You knew the trip was going to take a bit, but if you didn't get going now the risk of you pissing your pants would go up.

Thankfully, Stretch understood almost immediately, He stood up. You flicked off the blankets, unconsciously blanketing your bloody shirt with your arm to keep it out of sight. (as much as you could, anyway) the gesture was in vain, Stretch saw it, his eyes lingered for only a moment though. You grunted as you slipped off the bed, his arms circled you, keeping you steady. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Edge questioned, glaring at Stretch.

“Going to the bathroom.” You muttered, feeling sick the second you stood up, hunched. Stretch began to lead you out of the room. Blueberry was utterly focused on the screen, he didn't even flinch as you stumbled past him. You leaned against the wall as Stretch closed the bedroom door behind him. A few minutes, and a string of curses later, You were at the bathroom door, breathing heavily, and covered in sweat. 

“ya gonna be good or do ya need me to bathroom sit ya?” stretch asked, brows bent in concern. You took another gasping breath and held out your hand. He stared at it and tilted his skull.

“I need a cigarette.” You flexed your fingers at him, he shrugged and pulled out his pack, dropping it into you awaiting palm, you used his lighter to light it, then slipped into the bathroom after doing so. “Thanks” you muttered and closed the door. 

Once inside, you closed your eyes and allowed yourself to breathe: you didn't know if you were already on medication or not but this pain was simply unbearable. You downed three pills and washed your face and hands thoroughly, You used the bathroom, then sat on the toilet as you smoked. Being alone brought you comfort, so you basked in it while you could.

“Not to be’n _ ass _ ’er anythin’” Stretch began from the other side of the door, you heard the flick of his lighter. “ _ Butt _ i don't appreciate you lyin’ to my bro. You're a really terrible liar you know that?” You sighed, closing your eyes as you took a long, thoughtful drag of your cigarette. You didn't understand how Stretch could have overheard your lie to Blue, but you didn't think on it long. You were a liar. That was your life. You simply weren't allowed to speak of your time in The Grounds with outsiders, especially ones who have never been there~ ones who seem way too nice to fully understand the place. If you told blue, or stretch, you had no doubts that they would take it to the authorities, or try to keep you from going. You signed that confidentiality agreement, Your lips were sealed. Your job, to you, was more important than these skeletons. 

“I know.” was all you said to him, through the door. You were not denying it, This secret was the only thing you cared for: it was the only thing you were good at.

You winced, recalling all the times you lost, and the times you won. It was important to you. Very important to you. It was…

The only thing you knew how to do anymore. 

You finished off the cigarette and made your way back out of the bathroom. Stretch resumed his hold on you, albeit distantly as he lead you back to your room to finish off the movie.

The rest of the night went by slowly, you felt your sins like spiders crawling up and down the length of your body, and you hated it more than anything. You were unable to focus for the rest of the night, dizzy from your lack of blood, and from the pills you took. You barely registered when Blueberry booped his teeth against your cheek in what you could only assume, was a skeleton kiss. He gave you a promise to return tomorrow before both he, and stretch left. 

Edge applied new bandages to your somewhat unresponsive form. He told you he’d be sleeping in the living room if you needed him. 

You noticed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter left your nightstand. 

You barely slept a wink at all that night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for rushing this chapter a bit! i had a long day at work, had to be in at 6 am when usually im a night person.... i literally hadn't slept for 24 hours when i finished this up. next will be better, promise :D   
also, i made a tumblr! BUT, im gonna wait before sharing it, i need to draw up some pictures and style it a bit more so its not so plain.


	9. ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter~ but, id rather cut one short at just the right spot so I have more room to write for the next one~ Next chapter will probably be a long one, we got some 'splanin to do.  
i cant beleive how great you all make me feel <3 by now id usually give up and stop writing but every time i see a new kudo, bookmark, comment, anything, it gives me fuel. Im so dedicated ya'll <3 and its all thanks to you. 
> 
> Update on polls! which are STILL OPEN.  
Stretch is in the lead for our next character arch, Red close behind~  
The fight for whether or not Blue and Paps should be romantic interests is nearly tied!  
The majority would like me to keep the title as it is~  
Thank you all for voting! Would you like to have more polls? I really enjoy making them~ it gives me a better idea as to what you'd all like to see happen here.

It took me over 30 minutes to figure out how to spell the word unnecessary. While I was at work I asked customers randomly like. “Yo, how do you spell unnecessary” and NONE of them could tell me. XD That's gotta be one of the hardest words for me I guess~~~

* * *

_I punch in my card_   
_I know what it costs_   
_Yeah I out in the work that you don't_   
_Day after day_   
_All work and no play_   
_Yeah I'll do all the things that you won't_

_Even when my feet get tired_   
_I will keep on moving higher_

_I'm the story you don't speak of_   
_I'm the one they call the underdog_   
_'Cause every time the push comes to shove_   
_I'm climbing over you to reach the top_   
_'Cause I want everything or nothing at all_   
_Yeah, I want everything or nothing at all_   
_'Cause I want everything or nothing, nothing, nothing_   
_Nothing at all_

** _Everything or nothing - Willyecho_ **

** _V LINK V_ **

** _ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS7_Ewi8lSY> _ **

* * *

The next day, you weren't any better.

Clearly, it was worse.

The pain had you mute and unable to move any part of your body that was connected to your torso. Even when you stayed completely still, it remained hurting. Edge came in to try to get you to eat three times that day, but the thought of swallowing anything kept your mouth and eyes shut, hoping he'd just give up and go away.

The first few times, he did. Muttering and growling, but his words were the least of your concerns. You were laying in sweat and unable to get to the bathroom to clean yourself or use it. You didn't wet yourself; you just hold it in, figuring the stinging pain couldn't be any worse then what you were dealing with.  
Edge healed you four times. It worked, for a few hours. The skeleton grew greatly concerned each time the wounds reopened with very little movement like they were resisting his magic.

The skin around said wounds were growing dark purple and yellow, quickly getting infected despite the care Edge was putting into it.  
The next day, Monday, Edge wasn't as lenient as he had been before regarding your recent eating habits.  
You'd been in a dead sleep, the kind where nothing could wake you.

Almost nothing.  
The door to your room was kicked open with enough force to shatter one of its hinges, this left your poor abused door busted and hanging at an awkward angle, swinging limply.

Okay, that was unnecessary.

"HUMAN!"

You growled at the roar.

"YOU WILL SKIP EATING NO LONGER!" Pounding footsteps, you didn't want to open your eyes. Too much effort. "YOU MUST EAT, IF YOU DON'T I WILL FORCE IT DOWN YOUR THROAT MYSELF!"

You responded with another miserable groan, the safety of your blanket was ripped away from you. Your blurred eyes snapped open, the rooms light blinded you. You could just make out Edges blacked-out form surrounded by a heavenly white aura.

The black shadow within that light was the least heavenly being you'd ever met.

"Eeeeeedge." You heaved out in a whine closing your eyes, seeing made you nauseous, it felt like you were swaying, but you were laying down, you weren't moving. Seasick?

Two gloved hands grabbed your shoulders and lifted you into a sitting position, dizziness erupted around you as you forced back the bile threatening to come out your throat. You opened your mouth to scream at Edge~ for whatever the fuck he was doing to irritate your pain~ but you couldn't.

A fork was shoved in your mouth, and you paused.

Warmth overtook your body, you instantly recognized the sere amount healing magic poured into the food that dissolved moments after sitting in your mouth.

Lasagna?

Mmmm...

Lightheaded, probably from your infection and the steady blood loss, you dared not open your eyes as you eagerly opened your mouth for another forkful of those saucy nomms. Your obedience was instantly rewarded, you tried chewing the magic food but it was gone before you could fully savor it, it's amazing taste lingered, though.

"Mmmmmmh." You purred, you felt the magic tend to your inner wounds, acting as a pain reliever to your wounded stomach, the area was warm and numb, and for the moment, you felt like you could talk. You could easily become addicted to food with healing magic in it.

Easily.

The longer you just laid back and allowed him to feed you, the less upset you felt. You knew, deep down that the magic would not keep your stab wounds tamed for long, but you planned on relishing in the few moments you had where it didn't feel like you were dying.

"I DONT UNDERSTAND." Edge began, you finally cracked open your eyes to watch the big meany as he went to take another chunk of the lasagna off the plate for you. At this point, you could have fed yourself, but...

There was something adorable that came with the thought of Edge feeding someone. So you refrained and acted like you were still in pain so you could consume all of that healing magic and the sincerity of the situation.

"Hmm?" You questioned as the food disappeared in your mouth again.

"MY MAGIC, IT’S NOT WORKING ON THOSE WOUNDS? BLUEBERRIES DIDNT EITHER. ITS ALMOST AS IF IT’S MAKING IT... WORSE?" Edge mused, delivering you another bite of this earth's best food. You didn't exactly respond, just hummed in disappointment at the prospect of such an amazing feeling making your wounds worse. Right now, you could care less about the death such an infection may or may not bring. You had a bad bone boy spoon-feeding you.

You could die this instant and you'd go happy.

When the food stopped coming, your open mouth dropped into a frown. You glared at Edge, and he glared back.

How dare he stop?

Your eyes locked for a while, he searched yours, then finally after what seemed like an hour, he spoke. Hesitantly, oh so hesitantly.  
"MAYBE... WE SHOULD... GET YOU TO A... HOSPITAL?"

Aaaaand you froze up.

Every atom in your body chose that moment to stop working.

You were okay with hospitals, for minor things that didn't require paperwork. But, this would require information that you didn't readily have. Would they even treat you without proper identification?

Your atoms finally began moving again, you shook your head free of any thoughts. You tested your wounds by moving to the border of your bed, yeah, you were pretty fucking numb right now, you could stand.

You were going to take advantage of the short time you had while the food worked it's the way through your system. "No, no hospitals." You replied sternly, lifting yourself up you staggered to the bathroom, Edge followed you like a lost puppy with a purpose, glaring at your weakness the entire time.

Showered and empty, you came out of the bathroom feeling like a hundred bucks. Well, more like fifty. You felt like twenty-five when you noticed your skeleton friend standing a few feet away from the door with his hands set on his hips. You were about to get scolded, weren't you?

"What?" You barked, there was a bit more bite to it then you intended but Edge seemed to absorb that anger professionally, and store it for later use.

"IF YOU WON’T SEE A DOCTOR, WILL YOU AT LEAST SEE CLASSICS’ TORIEL?" You blinked. Never have you ever heard those words together. It sounded like utter gibberish.

"See what?"

"NOT WHAT, WHO. TORIEL, SHE IS ONE OF THE MONSTERS THAT CLASSIC~ SANS KNOWS. HER HEALING MAGIC IS, UNFORTUNATELY, BETTER THEN MINE." You paused, leaning against a wall as you contemplated this, your eyes lingered over the house, and you noticed instantly how much cleaner it was since Edge started camping out here. You felt bad about keeping him here... But you weren't. Edge was here because he wanted to be, he could leave any time. There was a part of you that was eternally grateful that he decided not to leave you to suffer on your own… you were pretty sure you’d be dead by now if he had. He really wanted you to get looked at that bad... Then fine, you could deal. It was the least you could do.

As long as no hospitals were involved.

"Fine. You remember the agreement though, right?" You pressed, narrowing your colored eyes at him. "We can't tell anyone about the grounds."

"OF COURSE, HUMAN. I AM A MONSTER OF MY WORD."

"Alright, we can go." Edge pushed towards the door at that.

You blanched "Wait, now?"

"YES? IT WOULD BE SMART TO GO WHILE YOU'RE STILL ABLE TO WALK." He sneered like you were stupid for not coming to the same conclusion. You rolled your eyes at him and followed him out the door. He pulled out his phone and started texting, you, being ever the good friend, decided not to leer over him and invade his privacy.

You both stepped off the porch and you began looking around for some kind of car, figuring Edge had one. Your eyes met an empty parking lot. Almost empty. There was a short shadow standing under a tree near the far sidewalk. You didn't even realize how late it was, your sleeping schedule was really freaking off since you got injured.

Walking was easier, but you felt stiff, there was this ever-present ache coming from the pit of your stomach that you knew, would only grow the longer you went without magic to soothe it.

When you got in range the shadow turned, you, of course, recognized Sans right away. It'd felt like a while since you first met him in the park, even then your time together had been brief, so you understood the look of confusion on the shorter skeletons face as he observed you.

"you must be the human..." He trailed off, drawing out the ‘N’ a few seconds, his skull tilted further, then his eye lights brightened.

"oh hey, I know you." He tried your name, it came out a few syllables wrong so you corrected him with a shy smile. "Y/n."

"y/n right. You..." He looked you over, not even bothering to hide it. "..look worse than last time, heh." Edge growled beside you. To your surprise, he actually struck a hand out in front of you to either stop you from moving foreword or stop Sans from coming any closer.

"YOU’RE HERE TO GET US TO TORIELS, NOT ASK QUESTIONS, TRASHBAG." He warned. You gave Edge a 'seriously dude' look but his attention was solely on Sans and not you, so he didn't see it.

"yeah yeah edge lord, this is the human you've been spending so much time with?" Sans chuckled, he reached out for your hand. You glance to Edge, trusting the smaller skeleton but it felt like you needed his permission to take it; because of how he reacted earlier.

When Edge huffed and said nothing else; you chose then to respond for him. "He's been helping me out." You shrugged, taking his hand, Edge grasped classics shoulder on instinct, the two of you shook hands, you opened your mouth to say something else, but the words were whisked away from you.

For a second, you couldn't breathe. It felt like the air was sucked from your lungs, but that feeling was gone just as quickly as it came. It took you a minute to realize you were no longer in your parking lot, but outside a quaint-looking house in the suburbs.

"..." Was all that came out of you.

You decided not to question it.

The less you walked the better.

-  
I made a tumblr... its pretty bare.. ill post my acrylic paintings and doodles on here every so often~  
Feel free to come yell at me

<https://www.tumblr.com/blog/themsoundwaves>


	10. "TOO RUGGED, YOU SAY?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this one, hahaha. I hope ya'll enjoy it as much as I did, even if it's long!
> 
> The poll for the fic's name change has ended. the mass majority would rather not have the name changed to Six skeletons and...? Thank you to all who voted! Polls are awesome! 
> 
> Also, I finished the coloring stage of my Red acrylic painting, I posted it on my new Tumblr.  
Alsox2, is this the first pun ive made in this fanfic? jeez. XD i suck at them, so i rarely use'em...

my Tumblr again.

<https://www.tumblr.com/blog/themsoundwaves>

* * *

_ ‘A lonely road, Crossed another cold state line _

_ Miles away from those I love purpose undefined _

_ While I recall all the words you spoke to me _

_ Can't help but wish that I was there _

_ And where I'd love to be, oh yeah _

_ Dear God _

_ The only thing I ask of you is _

_ To hold her when I'm not around _

_ When I'm much too far away _

_ We all need that person who can be true to you _

_ But I left her when I found her _

_ And now I wish I'd stayed _

_ 'Cause I'm lonely _

_ And I'm tired _

_ I'm missing you again oh no _

_ Once again.’ _

** _Dear God- Avenged Sevenfold_ **

** _V LINK V_ **

[ ** _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfCDBzgrM6k_ ** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfCDBzgrM6k)

* * *

You blinked, everything was sort of fuzzy, your eyes were having trouble _not _spinning, and you couldn't help but feel like you just took a trip through the washing machine on speed wash The home before you was beautiful, that much you could tell even from its wriggling displacement. Sans was peering at you expectantly, and you glanced sideways at him, face paler than it had been before, a result of the... Warp?... Whatever that was.

You were seriously hanging out with Edge too much, instead of softly questioning Sans for looking at you like that; you opened your mouth and absolute rudeness came out.

"What? I got sommem on my face or some shit?" He blinked, his gaze flicking to Edge who looked almost proud of himself for what he was turning you into.

"not gonna question that...?" He began slowly. Oh, that's what it was. He was expecting you to ask about his magic? But that... Took… _ effort. _ His explanation would, no doubt, take more listening than you were okay with.

Well... It was pretty fucking cool, you guessed, and he seemed to be fishing for some confidence. 

How much time could you save if you had a power like that?

You could go to Spain or _ Egypt _, or… Anywhere other than here?

Your lips tilted up into an evil smirk.

Oh... You were going to _ abuse _ the s _ hit _outta this friendship.

"_ Oooh! _" You hummed. "It musta left my brains all scrambled.” You giggled weirdly, flapping your hands in the direction of your head. “That's so cool, Sans!" You gushed, wrapped an arm around his shoulder, wincing at the jolt of pain it caused. He chuckled nervously, no doubt hearing your lecherous tone. 

"Teleportation? I've only seen it in video games, it seems pretty damn useful." You batted your eyelashes at him, he leaned away, seeing where this was going when you pulled out your phone.

"Can I getcha’ number,_ babe _?" His face dusted blue, but he shrugged under your merciless verbal attack.

"not a chance, kid." He huffed, his voice twinkling with mirth.

"i ain't that easy." You pouted at him but laughed it off anyway. Shifting off his shoulder, you crossed your arms. Damn, you laid it on too heavy, it was a good thing you were joking. 

<strike> You _ were _ </strike> <strike> joking, right?</strike>

It didn’t matter, You’d get his number someday.

Shoving your phone back in your pocket you curled your lip in mock disgust and strode back to Edges’ side. Sans began walking ahead of you, shaking his head at the display, up the gorgeous driveway, there was a series of flower gardens on either side of the freshly laid asphalt. It smelt wonderful.

You bumped your shoulder into Edges' arm- he was too tall for you to reach anywhere else. Instead of growling, the skeleton glanced down at you with hard eyes. 

"Can you teleport Edgey?" He was taken aback by the nickname and quickly scowled at you for it, you just giggled and waggled your eyebrows at him. Good, he hated pet names. Time to think of some creative ones. He didn't scold you for using it, though. _ Score. _

"DO YOU THINK I WOULD HAVE WALKED YOU TO~" His eye lights shrunk, and he gave you a pointed socket squint, not missing a beat. "~WORK, IF I HAD?" Sans made it up the large white porch before the two of you, the smell of fresh paint stung your nose and for a second it scrunched up, but it wasn't a terrible smell. Edge sounded pretty annoyed with you.

Good. Annoyed Edge was off guard Edge, and off guard Edge was best Edge.

You shrugged. "Dunno, you seem like the kinda guy who'd rather walk, exercise'n all'at." Sans knocked on the door, he turned and shot you both an untrustful glare, his orbs landed on Edge. 

"you better be on your best behavior, edgelord." Sans warned, narrowing his sockets at his relative. "one wrong word and were~"

"~GONNA HAVE A BAD TIME, YEAH, YEAH.~” He wagged his hand dismissively. “~TRASHBAG, HOW _ ORIGINAl. _" The pain in your stomach was coming back the longer you stood still, a few more seconds and you doubted you'd be able to stand idle anymore. 

Sans deadpanned, Edge rolled his eye lights. If Sans was going to retort, he wouldn't get to it. The words died in his mouth when the front door swung open. Sans shifted to face the woman known as Toriel. 

And gods, was she _ beautiful _, for a monster. Your heart dropped straight down to your groin at the sight of the goat woman.

"Oh! Sans... I was not expecting you! Um..." She leaned slightly to the side once she saw the two of you standing there behind the short skeleton. "Edge....? ....?" Her divine voice filtered out of your mind as you openly stared at her, slack-jawed.

Her _ eyes _ , her fucking _ stunning _ eyes. Her long floppy _ ears _ , fuck, you wanted to reach out and man-handle them. The horns on her head had your brain nearly shutting down, they were so _ cute _ but gave her such a _ bad girl _ look. Her fur looked so soft, you could only imagine how it would feel <strike> _ wrapped around your bare skin _ ~ </strike>

Your face grew unbearably hot, so lost in your imagination you blatantly started fanning yourself with a hand. 

Yup, the healing magic was wearing off, the pain was making you loopy.

Either that or you were just now concluding that you were a furry.

"THEIR NAME IS Y/N." Edge spoke up for you when it was clear you were too out of it to respond. 

"But you can call me whatever you'd like,_ mama. _" You purred out before you realized it. Shit, did you seriously just say that? What the fuck, y/n. 

Toriel giggled with a hand to her mouth, eyes turning into crescent moons. Sans gave you a hard side glare that had you convinced he was possessed by Satan, and Edge just stiffened behind you. 

"DO IGNORE THEM, THEY HAVE SUFFERED A LOT OF BLOOD LOSS." Edge sputtered out, Toriel’s smile fell the second blood was mentioned.

"My dear, are you hurt?" She breathed. 

_ Well, Duh. _

"Mmmhm." You drawled, still not entirely focused on the task at hand. How could she sound so caring to someone she’d just met? You could've been a killer for all she knew. Your sight was starting to lag, the motion of it making you feel sick to your stomach. You started swaying, vision going blurry, you tried to blink it away, hoping it was just a spout of dizziness. You were still a little numb, but that ache was returning, and it was angry at you for dampening it. You hated how instead of creeping up on you, that pain decided to plow into your tiny frame like a speeding car on a highway.

Okay, you needed to sit down.

Upon seeing you sway Toriel grabbed you softly by your shoulders and lead you to her couch. She sat you down, Edge didn't even need to ask the goat monster for help, she was giving it anyway.

You were aware of words being shared between the three of them, but if you learned anything over the past few days, it was that the more distant you made yourself, the easier it was to block out the budding affliction. You lifted your shirt to expose the fresh bandages that were already coated with fresh sticky blood. You watched her paws gingerly unwrap them from your body, and you couldn't help but wonder...

How much blood did you have left, anyway? Shouldn't you be dead by now? 

You were 99% sure that you were cheating death, you hadn't ever heard of someone surviving _ five _ stab wounds before. 

That familiar warmth flared up through your stomach, this time though, it felt less smooth, and more like tiny hot pop rocks going off beneath your skin. The feeling wasn't horrible, nor was it uncomfortable. Something was soothing in the way it sizzled deep in your abdomen like cooking bacon. You moaned loudly, relaxing back in your seat, eyes fluttering closed.

Healing magic was... _ Life. _

"THEY’RE _ EXUBERANTLY _ VOCAL." Edge informed, you caught his shadow leering over you from behind the couch, Toriel giggled at that but stayed focused on healing your wounds. 

"These are quite deep, and infected." She mused, switching paws so she could better access the ones closer to your pelvis. "And I can tell that you tried healing her, Edge. Haven't I told you that your magic is too rugged for healing?" She tsk'd at the skeletal monster, making sure to look over each wound before moving onto the next. Edge muttered something under his breath, you swore he just repeated what she said in a mocking voice.

You snorted, What a toddler 

He cleared his throat and said, louder, before the goat monster could catch onto his mockery.

"TOO RUGGED, YOU SAY?" A heavy growl, his voice riddled with disbelief. 

"Yes." Toriel nodded, more to herself, not elaborating in the least. She let that sit in the air for a short minute whilst she finished addressing you. When she was done she sat back and gave her work one final check. 

"Your magic was not meant to heal, Edge, forcing it to do so is _ not _how it works.” She looked over a puckered scar on your arm, one of the first wounds Void had given you she tilted your arm in his direction to show him. “Scrapes and bruises, minor cuts like this you can do I'm sure. But. You need more practice with your volatile magic before you can try healing something more life-threatening." Edge scoffed and moved to sit on the couch beside you, Toriel reached out and held both of your hands. You got butterflies the second your hands could feel her fur. Her eyes twinkled in the living rooms bright lighting. Sans stayed awkwardly quiet, one glance over your shoulder proved he was meandering about in the kitchen like a lost dog, clearly understanding that he wasn't apart of this conversation. 

"I would like for you to stay here for a little while, just to make sure that they don't reopen. I do not think they will, with a proper source" She told you, and with a look like that on her snout, how could you say no? You nodded. 

"Would you like some tea?" 

Tea? 

_ Gross. _

You've never had tea before, mostly because of the obsession your parents had with it when you were younger, you always just looked at one of those packets and thought~ ew, gross,_ leaf drink _. 

"Um... how ‘bout some coffee?" 

Toriel nodded, then looked over to Edge, who was still plainly sulking, the tall skele was half-sunken in his seat, staring almost lifelessly at the far wall. She cleared her throat to get his attention but Edge wasn't having it, he just continued to focus on whatever the eff he was focusing so friggen hard on. Toriel rolled her eyes, you didn't know what kind of problem Edge had with the goat woman, but you couldn't see her being anything other than kind. It must have been her calling him out on his misuse of magic, Why else would he revert to being a scolded child?

"Edge." She pressed, the skeleton glanced at her, finally. "Would you like anything?" 

"A LIFE, THANKS." You choked on your spit, the way he said it, so seriously yet offhandedly, it was by far the highlight of your night. That wasn't something you'd ever expect to hear from your friend, but upon hearing it, you couldn't help your wheeze of laughter. 

"My god, Edge, I can't._ I can't even. _” You leaned back, pressing a hand to your forehead. “You're turning me into a white girl with all this emo shit." 

Edge shifted and gave you a once over. 

"AREN'T YOU...?" He didn't finish, he didn't need to. You laughed at his discomfort. Were you a white girl? **Only you know the answer to that. You, Yes, You.**

When you began to calm down you rapidly realized that laughing hadn’t hurt you as it did before. You weren't numb, but you weren't in pain, you looked down at your stomach to see the slanted scars of your wounds, steadily drying blood around the area. You needed another shower, ugh.

The spot beside you on the couch dipped, you glanced over to see that Sans decided to join you both. You didn't miss the way Edge stilled next to you when the shorter sat down.

“i _ gash’ _ta ask you, y/n, how’d you manage to get Edgelord on your good list?” You snorted at the pun, Sans grin widened at that but you didn’t exactly bring it up. Edge groaned loudly beside you, whether or not it was from the pun, or because Sans spoke like the taller skele wasn’t in the room, you didn’t know. 

“We have the same interests. Met at a bar.” You stated cryptically.

“edge? At a _ bar?” _ A loud, disbelieving bark of a laugh. “sounds like the start to a cheesy romance novel. didn't take you for the romantic type.” He hinted, smirking at his relative. 

Edge’s growl sounded like the distant rumble of thunder, you glanced over at him, his face was glowing red a little. You stayed silent, your brain working itself raw as you looked at his increasingly reddening face. 

He was going to deny that, wasn’t he? 

Edge was, by far, the last person you thought would develop any feelings, in _ that _ department for _ you. _

“YES, SANS, EVEN I VISIT THE BAR ON OCCASION.” 

He didn’t deny it. 

You felt like giggling, you felt like whooping. _ Did edge have a crush on you _?

_ That’s fucking adorable. _

He must've caught your face-wide grin because his sockets narrowed at you dangerously, which only managed to make you smirk harder. 

Who knew all it took was getting stabbed and acting like a spoiled needy brat all day to get someone to like you. 

If you knew that earlier in life, you may have gotten a boyfriend/girlfriend. 

Regardless, you couldn't exactly say you returned those feelings~ if they were true. You had only ever looked at people in either a friendly or nonfriendly way. _What did a crush feel like?_

You’d have to look it up when you got home, but you were pretty sure you’d be able to tell if you had one. 

Toriel came back with a mug in one hand, and a ketchup bottle in the other, she set the ketchup down on the end table in front of Sans, then went about giving you the warm coffee. She sat herself down a well-loved reading chair opposite of you and pulled something small and brown from her dress’s pocket. 

She tossed the brown _ thing _at Edge haphazardly, who flinched at the motion but with his impressive reflexes, managed to catch it before it hit him in the face. You peered over at Edge and bit your lip at what you saw.

It was a sugar packet. 

“To sweeten up your attitude.” Toriel hummed, Edge shot her a glare and opened his sharp-toothed jaw to say something, but the flicker of blue from your left stopped your friend from saying anything at all. You glanced questioningly at Sans, who was straining to keep his laughter in. 

“She's right, GG.” You scooted closer to your big meany who stayed remarkably still. “You could use a little sweetener in your life.”

Sans openly laughed at the pet name, and Edge fixed you with a look full of fake hatred. He easily ripped open the top of the sugar packet with his _ blades for fingers _ and downed it in one go. You weren't expecting him to _ eat _ it, and you couldn’t stop yourself from peering at his neck wondering where the _ fuck _it all went.

The silence after that couldn't be cut with the sharpest of blades, it was so very unnerving, the way you all just sat there and sipped at your respective drinks. You tried not to dwell on why Sans was drinking ketchup like soda, You all had your kinks, you decided to file that information away for later. Edge awkwardly picked at some crusted stain on his leather chest plate, You knew what was coming the second Sans sucked in a breath.

“So, _ sugar, _ ya wanna tell us how ya managed to get _ stabbed _?” 

Toriel shifted in her seat, looking a little uncomfortable, but her eyes twinkled with kindness and understanding. “You don't have to say anything, Y/n.” she offered you a gentle smile, you noticed how her k9’s were dulled down a bit. Hmm. “I know we’ve only known each other for the better half of an hour, but please rest assured that I'm…” she broke off, nodding to Sans. “~We’re here to help. We’re here for you”

The implications to her words had your heart-shattering in your chest, leaving the leftover glass-like pieces jammed into your delicate skin, you could feel that pain as if it were palpable, you hoped that it was legit just a feeling and not your wounds reopening. They must have thought that you were _forcibly_ assaulted and traumatized by whatever experience they guessed you had. 

Gods, You could never tell them that you were _willingly_ assaulted and traumatized. Not only would telling them would be against the agreement, but you were damn sure hearing such a thing would break Toriels soul, and probably make Sans hate you indefinitely.

So, in the silence after Toriels words, you downcasted your head shyly, trying your best~ and succeeding in looking frighteningly flustered over it. If they thought you were the victim, you would play the victim. You began spinning an intricate, yet reasonable web in your head, a story that would not only be believable, but undoubted. You gnawed on your lip, fidgeting.

You took a breath, and began apprehensively “I-i..”

There was a gentle nudge against your right hamstring, you looked down at it, Edge was softly tapping you, reassuringly, with the back of his pointed finger. Your head snapped up to look at him, he spoke before you could fully target his face with your colored eyes.

“TWO RACISTS MEN CAME INTO THE BAR TWO NIGHTS AGO WHEN WE WERE THERE.” He began, his voice raspy. “THEY WERE TRYING TO RILE ME UP, THROWING WEAK WORDS AT ME. Y/N STEPPED IN WHEN THEY NOTICED I WAS ABOUT TO SNAP… THEY DIFFUSED THE SITUATION, AND THE BARTENDER MADE THEM LEAVE.” His hand moved away from your leg, You cut him off, thankful for his start to the story you’d been struggling with.

“After they left we hung out for a little while like we've been doing recently.” You sent Edge a bittersweet smile, his socket twitched at it. “I convinced him to eat some fries~”

“THEY WERE COVERED IN GREASE AND REVOLTING.” Edge improvised. 

You snickered honestly, a genuine smile tugging at your lips.

“Yeah yeah, you said that every time you ate one, but you didn't _ stop. _” He glared at you, and for once you began to wish that this had happened. You guessed Edge hated fast food, especially since he’d taken a nack to feeding you healthy food over the last two days when you decided to eat.

“ONLY BECAUSE YOU WOULDNT STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT WASTING MONEY.” Edge muttered you flashed him a wink he blushed at it and whipped his head in the opposite direction so fast you thought you heard a pop. 

You took this moment to glance at your too spectators, Toriel had a fond, somewhat surprised smile on her face as she listened, probably amazed at the prospect of Edge having a friend like this~ Sans’s look was harder to read, but you could tell that he was believing at least some of your lies. He nodded to you, letting you continue.

“Anyway, after a bit I had to leave, ya’know. Work’n the morning and all’at~”

“I OFFERED TO WALK THEM HOME.” Edge butted in heatedly, and you were solely convinced that he was mad over the fib.

You wagged your hand dismissively at him. “Yeah, but imma bit kid gg, I don't need scary ole’ Jack Skellington to watch over me.” Edge's eyes narrowed as you looked at him, and for a moment you swallowed nervously. He was seriously getting into this, playing the part perfectly. It felt way too real to you, even. 

“I SHOULD HAVE INSISTED.” He snarled. “IF I HAD~”

“Edge.” You cut him off in a warning tone. “It's not your fault.” he sighed.

“As you probably gathered, I didn't let him. And he's right, I should have. ‘Cuz on the walk home those two guys cornered me. I barely had time to dial his number ‘fore they were on me… I don't remember much after that. Just a lot of blood and the sound of my screaming…” you trailed off, remembering when Void had you pinned down, stabbing you several times in the stomach so quickly that the pain hadn’t even registered with you. Part of you felt like you had died right there on the spot, and the only reason you were here right now, breathing, was… 

You looked over at Edge, who had just a tiny bit of concern swelling in those sockets.

Was because of him.

“I CAME WHEN I ANSWERED THE PHONE AND HEARD THEM SCREAMING. I BROUGHT THEM BACK TO THEIR HOUSE AND TRIED MY BEST TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE… IT KEPT GETTING WORSE, THOUGH.” He looked away, remembering Toriels warning about his magic. “SO WE DECIDED, AFTER THE INFECTION, TO COME HERE.” 

It was silent again. Toriel had literal tears in her eyes as she got up and rounded the table, she scooped you up in her arms and hugged you so tightly… it felt nice, being hugged. 

The rest of the night went smoothly, you even find yourself becoming more relaxed with Sans, he seemed to get more comfortable with you after your, and Edge’s shared story. He laid the puns on heavy as you asked Toriel about her life. She was a foster parent, adopting older children from the system, the ones who got looked over, and would soon be kicked out onto the street. Sans told you about his security job, He worked at the Embassy most nights and days keeping watch over the kings above ground ‘_ palace’ _ When they asked about your work, you froze up, mind coming up blank. Edge swooped in to save you though, in the form of declaring that he wanted to leave.

Toriel all but forced you to give her your number on your way out the door, three hugs and a slice of leftover pie later, she was slowly closing the door behind you, all the while delivering you promises of seeing you again. 

Sans offered to teleport both you and Edge home~ you were about to take him up on the offer when Edge cut you off.

"NO, WE WILL WALK." You shot Edge a questioning glance but he avoids your gaze. Sans shrugged at this, then he came up to you fully, You heard him sigh, practically able to see some weight chipping off his shoulders.

"hey, look, sorry about bein' all... you know. skeptical. It isn’t often~ well it hasn't happened yet, but still." He gave a nervous chuckle, something told you he had a bit of trouble speaking publicly, and though this wasn't very public.. You could see the anxiety In the way he shrunk inside his jacket hood. Either that or he had an issue with confrontation. You weren't a face-reader,

"'anyway, it isn't often a human comes around trying to be friendly with us... just had to be sure you weren't one of the bad ones." A glint of black caught your attention, Sans was fiddling with his flip phone, turning it over and over in his digits. When you noticed, he cocked a bashful grin and held it to you, the smile weak but sincere. 

"wouldn't mind giving you a few shortcuts sometimes, _ mama. _" He winked at you, and your face heated up. Now that you were all buddy-buddy(?) Sans wasn't going to let you live that down, was he?

You supposed you deserved it. 

And part of you may have liked it, coming from such a smooth voice.

Part of you also may have wanted to hear Edge say it at some point.

_ What...? _

You shake your head and offered him a smile, accepting his phone and tapping your number into it. Once it was in his hand, he gave you a two-finger salute and vanished. 

You turned back to Edge who was already making his way down the driveway, you trotted to catch up to him, and caught him by the wrist before his long strides could put him further away.

"Any particular reason you wanted to walk instead of 'port?"

Edge lifted his fingers and air quoted. "EXERCISE N'ALL'AT" he mirrored, getting your slight accent down perfectly, you smirked at him. "YOU'VE HAVE BEEN IN BED FOR TWO DAYS... YOU NEED THIS." 

Yeah, you suppose you did.

After the week you've had, taking a nice long walk seemed like the right thing to do.

Twenty minutes later, you began realizing you missed your silent walks with Edge. You hadn't been doing them for long... But it hit home enough for you to feel that pull to keep doing it. The sounds of the sleeping city relaxed you, the echoes of your shared footsteps made you feel less alone, with the darkness surrounding you, the subtle glow of your skeletons' eye lights gave you security. 

You had nothing to say.

Neither did he.

So you just enjoyed each other's company.

You began recognizing the street you were on, you were getting closer to home. It was then when you decided to say something.

"You did a pretty convincing job back there." You laughed a little, nudging Edge who peered down at you with a very, very soft blush to his face.

"I... YES. IT WAS AN HONORABLE TALE OF WOE." Then, he did something you'd never seen before.

He smiled at you.

It was a genuine, kind smile.

A real ghost of a smile.

However fleeting it was... It was still there, it lifted his sockets just a bit, you felt your heart melt at the image you wished you could burn into your brain forever.

_ Aw... Edge... _

He looked so... Good with a smile. 

"YOU ARE QUITE THE STRING MASTER YOURSELF, HOW DID YOU KNOW I HATED GREASY FOODS?" 

He lightly bumped against you, like a subtle shoulder check as you turned a corner, the action had your face feeling pretty hot, you tried to come up with an answer for the big lug but your thoughts were distracting you.

Why was your face so damn hot? 

Why did your chest feel so… tight? 

You wanted to giggle, but at the same time, scream? But not in an angry way? 

This was so confusing?

"..ahaha, yeah." You choked out, gulping some fresh air, Edge raised a bone brow at you, and you quickly understood that what you just muttered made no sense whatsoever. 

"I mean, yeah. You only fed me healthy food, like serious healthy food. Plus you think a lot of things are disgusting. French fries? Are potatoes boiled in grease and covered with salt. Of course, you wouldn't like it. Have you ever even had fries?" 

"ONCE." Edge hummed, he placed his hands behind his back and held them there, looking much like a proper man. you walked ahead of him and began walking back words so you could focus on his words and that slowly disappearing smile. 

"WHEN I WAS YOUNGER. I BROKE A LEG." His smile fell back into his resting bitch face, you couldn't help but be disappointed, you didn't show it. "I WAS BEDRIDDEN, I COULDN'T COOK, CLEAN, FIGHT..." He trailed off, eye lights going distant like he was fighting off a harsh memory. "MY BROTHER, RED, HE BROUGHT ME BACK SOME GRILLBYS, BURGERS, AND FRIES, AND WHILE THE BURGER I COULD TOLERATE, THE FRIES..." He visibly shivered, something told you it wasn't from the sudden cool breeze that gusted by. 

"Were disgusting?" You guessed. Edge nodded a few times, unable to finish his sentence. 

Disgusting was probably his favorite word. 

You smiled though, somewhat deviously. 

"Well made-up me had made-up you eating made-up fries. So I feel pretty proud of myself, even if it was fake."

"YOU SHOULD BE." He retorted, the hint of a growl in his voice. "MADE-UP ME WOULDN'T HAVE HAD ANY IF MADE-UP YOU HADN'T CONVINCED ME TO FAKE-EAT THEM." 

You laughed, he made a noise akin to someone laughing, but it was more like a throaty grunt. Your studio came into view, and part of you couldn’t wait to collapse into bed. You eagerly took the steps two at a time and keyed open the door. You walked in, leaving it open, and sat the pie down on the kitchen table. You were expecting Edge to come in with you, after all, he had been glued to your side for the last three days, but upon looking back he was still standing out on the porch, just… looking in at you.

“Not coming in, Gg?” You questioned, taking a few steps towards the door

"I WOULD.” He rubbed at his arm. “BUT I HAVE TO HEAD HOME TO TELL THE OTHERS, IF SANS HASN'T ALREADY." He took a long look inside your house through the open door, eye lights lingering on you "ALSO, I HAVE PUT OFF WORK LONG ENOUGH, IT'S ABOUT TIME THAT I RETURN TO IT."

You tilted your head, curious.

"Work? Where ya work at?"

With only a little hesitation, Edge answered. "....I DELIVER MAIL VIA TRUCK THROUGHOUT THE CITY EVERY MORNING." 

You couldn't be stopped it if you wanted to.

"Pffffft~" 

Edge was a mailman.

_ Edge was a mailman. _

** _EDGE WAS A FRIGGIN MAILMAN_ **.

Oh my god~

Edge glared hard at you as you started laughing.

"Y-You- _*wheeze*_ Youre~"

"Y/N, NO." Edge tried, face wincing at the sound inhuman sound you just managed to produce from your mouth.

"Y/N YES!~" You choked out."~ A MAILMAN!" You verbally repeated, giving him a once over. You could already imagine him in his uniform. 

"ED-ED.." You took a gaping breath, using the wall to hold yourself up. You took a calming breath, getting control over yourself. "That's so perfect, Edge." 

"I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID ANYTHING," Edge muttered, looking away. 

"Please, please, please let me see you in uniform!" You begged, pushing towards him. Instinctively, Edge backed up, hands out. 

"NO."

"Please, my life won't be complete without it." 

"NO." Edge reached for your door handle, face beat red. You frantically grabbed at the border of the door, to stop him from closing it on you.

"Wait! Wait, okay, _ okay _ sorry... _ Sorry! _" You tried your hardest to get rid of the giggles. If anything the annoyed but fond look on the skeleton's face was egging you on. He paused, liking you enough to give you the benefit of the doubt.

"Sorry, you don't have to, but don't leave yet. I needa' tell ya sommem." You stepped out onto the porch, and though he was taller then you, he seemed to shrink under your gaze.

You'd been mulling this over in your head all night, well, since the walk. A repeated ‘thank you’ for all Edge had done for you wouldn't be enough. 

"FINE, HUMAN." He tapped a foot impatiently, trying to get his shit together a bit. "WHAT IS IT?"

"Com'ere." You inched your finger towards you, and he bent down, just a hair.

"...WHY?" He said, hesitantly.

"Just come'ere." You pressed smally, grinning sheepishly. Edge rolled his eyes and bent down a little more~ Ugh, Edge, why were you so tall? You narrowed your eyes at him and he got the hint, he leered forward just a _ tad _ bit more, clearly uncomfortable with the closeness of your faces.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR PLAYING AT BUT I DON'T HAVE ALL~" you shifted onto your tippy toes and planted a kiss on his cheek. 

When you pulled back Edge had a lost look on his face. His jaw opened and closed, obviously stricken.

"_NYEH? _"

"That's for being so great and terrible. I would probably be a goner if it wasn't for you. So thank you. From, like, the bottom of my heart. I really can't say it enough. You're a hundred percent awesome, Gg." 

Edge stared at you, eye lights tiny, face engulfed in a red mist.

…

…

...

Oh no, did you break him? 

"Edge?" You blinked.

…

…

…

“I'm sorry that was probably _ super _weird~” You added, already backtracking.

"Y-you're...welcome." He managed quietly.

He _ weirdly _ gave you a stiff half- _ bow _ and shuffled off your porch, fast walking away.

Shit. You probably just broke him. 

Hopefully, he fixed himself before he got home~ 

You watched him go until you could no longer see him, when he was out of sight you closed your door and locked it, smiling fondly. You felt weird, happy, but weird. When you turned around and caught a look at your now-empty apartment, though, your dreary smile faltered.

You were alone again.

This time, the loneliness didn't give you security. 

It just felt like something important was missing.

* * *

‘_ There's nothing here for me on this barren road _

_ There's no one here while the city sleeps _

_ And all the shops are closed _

_ Can't help but think of the times I've had with you _

_ Pictures and some memories will have to help me through, oh yeah _

_ Dear God _

_ The only thing I ask of you is to hold her when I'm not around _

_ When I'm much too far away _

_ We all need that person who can be true to you _

_ I left her when I found her _

_ And now I wish I'd stayed _

_ 'Cause I'm lonely and I'm tired _

_ I'm missing you again oh no _

_ Once again _

_ Some search, never finding away _

_ Before long, they waste away _

_ I found you, something told me to stay _

_ I gave in, to selfish ways _

_ And how I miss someone to hold _

_ When hope begins to fade _

_ A lonely road, crossed another cold state line _

_ Miles away from those I love purpose undefined _

_ Dear God _

_ The only thing I ask of you is to hold her when I'm not around _

_ When I'm much too far away _

_ We all need the person who can be true to you _

_ I left her when I found her _

_ And now I wish I'd stayed _

'_Cause I'm lonely and I'm tired_

_ I'm missing you again oh no _

_ Once again... _


	11. HIE-YAH!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Towards the end of this chapter, there is a reference to the reader being female.  
Also, Can you all let me know how the Chiefs accent is? is it too strong/hard to understand? Should I change it?

You woke up with what felt like a solid hour of sleep. You expected to roll over in bed, or at least feel some blankets around you, but you didn't. You blinked your blurry eyes and became aware of the fact that you weren't in bed at all.

You were sitting at your kitchen table, with Toriels half-eaten pie on a napkin in front of you. You were holding a butter knife with a chunk of the pie on it, apparently having mistaken the thing for a fork.

Since when did you sleep eat?

You shrugged, you were pretty hungry and you might as well finish what you started. You fished out a clean fork from your drawer and began munching on your pie.

It was amazing, you could taste the love in it.

Your phone vibrated once on the table next to you, reminding you that you had a message you haven't read yet, and your brows furrowed.

So... Not only did you sleep eat, but you sleep texted, too? You leered over your phone, almost afraid to touch the open messages, wondering what kind of words your half-asleep brain managed to spew.

**Y/n-** pie

**Blue- **GOOD MORNING Y/N! PIE? WHAT ABOUT IT?

**Y/n-** have it ea

**BLUE-** WHAT KIND OF PIE ARE YOU EATING?

**Y/n- **butter form snas GOAT

**Blue-** BUTTERSCOTCH PIE? FROM TORIEL? I LOOOVE HER PIES THEY'RE MADE WITH A TON OF LOVE! RHEYRE NOT AS GOOD AS THE MAGNIFICENT BLUEBERRIES TACOS THOUGH! BUT A CLOSE SECOND.

**Blue- ***THEYRE

**Y/n-** Tacos I want tacos

**Y/n- **Lemmie smash

**Y/n-** smash*

**Y/n-** smash*

**Y/n-** SMASH*

**Y/n-** Fuck bitch h a v e

**Blue- **LANGUAGE!

**Blue-** I CAN BRING YOU SOME BEFORE SCHOOL! YOUR HOUSE IS RIGHT ON THE WAY ANYWAY.

**Y/n-** yes dad

**Blue-** DAD? MWEHEHE! ON MY WAY, DAUGHTER!

_*chat nickname changed to dad*_

You blinked at your messages.

Did this happen...?

How did you not remember this?

Got hit on the head too many times, that's how.

The messages were sent ten minutes ago, and no sooner then you finished reading them did a knock come to your door.

Sssshit

You looked down at yourself, matted hair falling before your eyes, you were wearing a really old pair of army colored pajama pants, and a white stained shirt that hung down on you like a dress. You filtered your hands up through your hair and quickly noticed that it was sticking out like you'd touched a ball of static.

Whelp, it was six in the morning.

He'd certainly seen you look worse.

You went to the front door and opened it, revealing the blue-clad skeleton. He had a dark blue and white backpack, matching his outfit, strung over his shoulder. There was a white plastic takeout container in his grasp.

He beamed up at you, that adorable grin causing you to mirror it with your large smile. It didn't matter the state you were in, because Blue threw his arms around you anyway.

"IM SO GLAD YOU'RE BETTER!" He muttered into your chest, nuzzling his face against your shirt, right above where your healed wounds were. You gave an honest laugh, petting down the back of his skull, marveling in the smooth feel of his bones.

If only Edge let you pet him like this.

"I'm glad too, no more pain, I can do sh-stuff now." You almost hadn't caught your swear. That was so unlike you; you never cared if it was in front of a child before, why now?

He pulled back and eagerly held out his plastic container for you to grab.

"THEY'RE FROM LAST NIGHT BUT THEYRE STILL GOOD I PROMISE!"

You took the container and popped it open, peeking inside. From what you could tell, there was a whole lot of meat and cheese and little of anything else, parts of the beef sparkled in the light, did he have edible glitter in here? Oh yes.

It smelt perfect, and you knew as soon as he left, you'd be enjoying the shit out of it.

"They look friggen good Blue." You cooed, closing the top to open the door a little wider. "Wanna come in for a bit?" His eye lights brightened at the question, and he quickly shuffled inside.

"I DONT HAVE LONG THOUGH. I HAVE TO BE AT SCHOOL IN HALF AN HOUR. ITLL TAKE ME A FEW MINUTES TO WALK." You closed the door behind him with a smile. Why exactly were you so eager for some company now? Were you deprived? Probably. The thought of spending all day alone in your house wasn't as appealing as it had once been. You pulled out a chair for him at the table and went about putting two of the tacos on a plate to microwave.

"So, does Stretch know you're here?" You questioned, your back to the kid who went silent at your words, you heard one of his feet kick the leg of the table on accident as if he jerked.

"NOT... EXACTLY." He stuttered out, and you turned to look at him, narrowing your eyes and raising a brow. Stretch didn't outwardly seem to have a problem with you, but you knew he was not convinced that you were safe. Right now, you could already imagine getting chewed out by the mellow guy over it, especially since he didn't let Blue come here alone before.

You weren't trustful, but you wanted them to trust you to some extent.

Why, though? Why do you care if they trusted you?

"Well... Next time, please let him know id rather not get bitched at." You hummed. The microwave beeped, then you realized your choice of words.

Huh. Blueberry said nothing, and you expected him to scold you?

He just looked sheepishly down at the table.

"I WILL I PROMISE!" He rectified, puffing out his chest a little. You smiled at him and sat down in front of him, taking a big bite of the taco as he looked on with big eyes begging for approval.

The glitter was not the edible kind.

Also, it felt like you were eating raw seaweed; that fact alone almost made you gag when you started chewing it. It stuck to the top of your mouth and generally felt more like a liquid than a solid you were sure it was <em>supposed</em> to be.

That taste, though...

"These are awesome, Blue!" You prided him by taking another large bite. The sere amount of meat stuffed inside the shell made the entire taco kind of squishy, but it was bursting with such a unique, but not an unpleasant flavor that it made up for the sogginess of it.

Blueberries' eye lights flashed into stars, and his grin somehow became larger, his surprisingly malleable cheeks puffed up a little.

Why was that so cute? That face made you want to giggle, why did you want to? " it's not like you haven't seen chubby cheeks before.

"THANK YOU! IVE BEEN IMPROVING ON THEM SINCE WE JOINED THE 'TALE UNIVERSE ON THE SURFACE." It sounded like he was about to say something else, instead, the words turned into a hum, and he folded his gloved hands over the table, looking polite.

He was so damn precious. You needed to make him feel his best.

"Well, they're seriously great, like, imma have to bum more offa ya next time ya make'em."

"ILL MAKE SURE TO SAVE YOU SOME."

He cleared his throat.

"BUT I WANTED TO ASK YOU SOMETHING?" His voice came out as a question, and you doubted it was supposed to, you just nodded at him to continue.

"SO THIS NEW MONSTER FRIENDLY RESTAURANT OPENED UP NEAR MY SCHOOL AND STRETCH OFFERED TO TAKE PAPS AND I THERE, AND I KINDA WANTED TO KNOW IF YOU KINDA WANTED TO COME?"

The light embarrassed blush on his face was so adorable, you couldn't say no.

You immediately replied.

"What time?"

"AFTER SCHOOL AROUND TWO THIRTY. YOU CAN MEET ME AFTER, AND WE CAN WALK FROM THERE." He sounded so hopeful, and his tone was in the right place. You had nothing to do today; they also helped take care of you when you needed them, it was by far the least you could do.

Also, you wanted to go.

"Sure, text me the address an' I'll meet ya there."

Blue went to respond, but a knocking on your door stopped him. You must've looked confused because his ever-present smile twitched downwards a little at the noise.

You were getting pretty popular, or something.

"ARE YOU EXPECTING SOMEONE...?"

"Not... Really." You answered, skeptically. At your tone of voice, Blue tensely slipped up from his chair. His broad smile shifted into nearly a straight line. Looking at him like this, it reminded you of someone much older.

It reminded you that he was not just a harmless child. He was also a monster, a being with _magic_ that far outdid your strengths.

You got up and went to the door, and he cautiously followed you a few steps behind. You didn't have a peephole, and Blueberries' sudden stiffness made you mighty nervous. You were halfway in fight mode when you turned the handle.

It was probably someone with a wrong address. It happened on occasion.

You decided to crack open the door just enough to squint through the narrow slit, you must have looked like a paranoid schizo to whoever was outside, but you'd rather look crazy then get shot in the face or... Stabbed, again.

Your visitor was tall, a few heads higher then you, it was the first thing you noticed having to trail up your eyes up to see his face. He had a large, plump belly and supported a neatly trimmed red beard, a head of short mowed hair that reminded you of red grass. The nice fitting black and white suit brought out his crisp tan skin tone, brown eyes, crinkled at the bottom, shining in clear recognition.

Where have you seen this man before?

Then it hit you.

"Chief...?"

"Th' one'n only." He replied, his voice nearly mirroring Sans's just a little gruffer and solid from his weight.

You have only seen Damien once before in your time here. From the talk about him at The Grounds, he seemed like a decent enough man.

But why, was the boss of The Grounds, at your house?

Overwhelmed by his prominent presence, you jerked open the door open further and snapped into a straighter position.

"Sir!" You gave him a military-like salute that had him chuckling deeply.

"Jus' chief is fine." He corrected, exchanging one formality for another. You nodded

"Yeah, okay. Chief, my bad." Your forehead was a bit damp, sweat? Were you sweating?

You barely ever sweat.

He looked at you expectantly, looking over your choice of clothing with indifferent eyes, and you realized you should probably stop staring at him nervously and let him in.

"Sorry, chief, I just woke up. Come in." You held the door open the rest of the way, he gave a small head bow and stepped in at your offering.

"Thank ya, Betcha wonderin' why'm'ere, yeah? I got sommem ta go over w-." His words died in his throat upon seeing Blueberry, still as a statue behind you.

You'd nearly forgotten about the kid while flustered over Damien's appearance.

You could hear the early morning peepers clearly through the open door as the two of them silently regarded one another, having a conversation with only their eyes. The tension was rolling off Blue in waves visible by his stiff shoulders.

It had to be the creepiest thing you'd ever witnessed, seeing Blues typically swollen orbs nothing but pinpricks, with his head tilted minutely to the side, watching the burly man.

Chief cleared his throat and turned to you.

"I can come back atta better~"

"No, it's okay." Blue lightly cut in.

"I was just leaving." Your bows bent with confusion, and you showed it by giving Blue a look. He returned it, a question in those sockets.

'Do you need me to stay?'

You shook your head no, and Blues weird demeanor evaporated, he bound towards you and practically crushed your midsection in a hug.

"ILL SEE YOU AT TWO?" He mewled out.

You nodded and gave his head a light pat. He pulled away, gave Damien a brisk nod, and ran out the door.

After closing it behind your friend, you turned and noticed a lack of Chief. Further inspection provided he was sitting lax on your couch, a string of white smoke rising above his head. It smelt sweet, a scent you couldn't quite place precisely, just sweet.

You awkwardly went over to the couches side, and said, trying to be hospitable.

"Can I getcha anything to drink?"

"Nah, jus' take'a set fer'me, hmm?"

Trying not to make your gulp audible, you rounded the couch and sat on the far side, leaving a full cushion between the two of you. Cheif turned and gave you a gentle nod.

"I know it ain't calmin' ta see me showin' up 'atcha doorstep n'all'at." He began, keeping impressive eye contact with you, you shrunk, hating eye contact with a passion.

"But I wan'ed'a say sorry upfront fer what happened ta ya las' fight." Your body tensed at his words, you knew there was no use talking until he had finished, the last thing you wanted to do was interrupt him. Yes, you were intimidated.

"Ya see, tha' guy? Void 'e was callin' 'imself, 'e ain't had a pass, sum'ow slipped pass tha' guards witha group." He informed you, speaking calmly, it would have been professionally if his accent didn't make him sound like a gangster, getting straight to the point. "Didn' notice till after 'e was done. 'e came'n, but 'e slipped away 'fore tha' bouncers could catch'em." His gaze leveled with your unsteady one. You wriggled, uncomfortable with the subject

"I know ah ain't one fer showin' myself ta tha' masses, but I've 'ad my eye on ya. When tha' skeleton left wit'cha, I honestly thought ya was dead." He admitted, after which he took a long, stressful drag of his cigar, he held it out to you. You'd be lying if you said you didn't need a bit of nicotine right now. You graciously took it with a muttered thanks, you took a drag and marveled in the sweet, cherry taste of it.

"I dunno why 'e 'ad it out fer ya, y/n, but ah think ah know who 'es workin' fer." This caught your attention."So what, I've been targeted or something?" You asked, half-joking, half stiff with nerves. You wished Edge was with you right now, at least then you'd have someone to, well, look at?

"Sommem like'at." He replied, holding out his hand, you gave him bag his cigar, and he fastened it between his purely white teeth. Ugh, you probably shouldn't smoke from the same cigar as a basic stranger, something told you Chief didn't have any diseases though.

Aside from being problematically overweight, he looked extremely healthy.

"Look." His voice was louder now, sincere. "I jus'... Well. I don't wan'cha ta stop comin' cuz'a'tha' you've been doin' us proud fer the las' six years an' well." He appeared a bit flustered, confused, you tilted your head at him in a clear Invitation to continue. Something about his lax nature and the way he sighed and sunk back relaxed you.

"Lemmie explain." He pulled out a white napkin from his pocket and flicked his ashes into it, then folded the napkin back up and returned it to its place.

"When someone comes ta tha' grounds n' stays loyal, I see it. I see their strengths, an I record it. It ain't jus' a side job ta pass tha' time 'er get stronger. If ya dedicated, ya can turn it into a real successful career." He paused, speaking slowly so his accent wouldn't trip you up to much.

"I ain't jus' a bar owner, an I ain't jus' a ring leader. I'm a powerful man with a powerful place. An' when I see potential... I jump on it."

He narrowed his eyes pointedly at you. Had anyone else said that, you would have rolled your eyes and called them egoistic. Not Chief, however, when he said it, you instantly believed it.

"Now, about that void. When reviewin' tha' cameras, I saw 'e 'adda mark. Under 'is eye." Damien rapped his pointer fingers' knuckle at a spot just below his right brown eye.

"A cross, jus' a tiny one, looks more like'a birthmark, but when ya in my line'a work, ya recognize'em fer wha' they are. " His accent grew thicker, you heard the anger raise with his voice. "An ah've seen'em more'en a few times this year. Targetin' mah fighters. Makin' me break mah promise ta keep all'a'ya alive." He stressed the last word. Using his thumbs to crack his knuckles, the action swift, practiced.

You blinked, your mind swirling the new information around.

"So a gang? 'er sommem?" You asked, voice small, yet generally curious. He could have gone to anyone with his troubles, but he came to you. This important man came to _you._ You would contribute

"Uh, yee, ah guess." He took a long, thoughtful drag of his cigar, holding it in for a few seconds. You licked your lips, remembering your need to buy yourself a pack. Soon.

He finally exhaled and began on whatever thought he'd been contemplating. "I ain't exactly sure cuz' is so new, We aint never'ad trouble with no gangs before. some of 'em come in an' watch or fight on tha' sides but they all know its neutral grounds." he grumbled a little, at loss for words.

" Look, ah ain't exactly a gang leader, I don't know how ta run one, I ain't got people ta get information, i got bouncers, an' rich snobs." He leaned foreword, catching your gaze again.

"but... I can say tha' yer th' only one ta survive their attacks. An' I think it's gotta do wit'cha monster friend. So, I'm 'ere, ta ask ya." He paused, again. "Would ya be against workin' under me, ta help me get more information aboutem 'fore they kill another ona' my fighters? Get revenge, an' you'll be paid properly, 'course. i jus' i need some help an i ain't sure who'ta go ta." When no words made it past your lips, he gave a slow expectant laugh, his head dipping. He stood up and gave you a small hed-bow. hmm, that was weird, you havent met many people who did that.

"I'll give ya some time ta think about it." He winked, handing you the rest of his cigar. You took it with numb fingers. "Ya know where ta find me." With that, he saw himself out.

A long moment passed where your gaze was fixed to the door, swiveled in your spot. You didn't think you were that memorable, but strengths and win counts didn't seem to be the decider here. It was your loyalty.

Damien wanted you to help him, help him stop the people who had hurt you, and killed other fighters before you. It was something that, may not have been important to the world, but it was essential to your little corner of it.

You went to your room and took several drags of the cigar, The Grounds had to be one of the only, well, things that you'd ever been so loyal too. Twice sometimes three nights a week you went there, for the last six years. You had no plans to stop.

He said it would be a career, that would most certainly be more sustainable then what you were doing now, same place, same concept (?) new routine.

You'd give it a little more thought, but you were leaning towards yes. You sent Edge a text, just a simple 'Hey, what's up?' He was the only person you could tell about this, and you wanted a second opinion. You and your skeleton hadn't texted at all since meeting him, so you weren't unsure of his response time. You finished up your tacos, covered up the half-eaten pie and sat it in the fridge, then went and took a shower while you waited for any response. When you got out, you skimmed over Edges texts, and you tried not to frown at your phone when you saw it.

He left you on read.

-

Two rolled around slowly, slow enough to put you in a somewhat sour mood. When it hit twelve, each minute felt like it took five to crawl past, it didn't help that you'd continuously glance at the clock, hoping ten minutes went by when, in reality, only one managed to squeeze through.

You groaned, relaxing back on the two-seater in your room. You'd just finished beating your thirty-fourth round of C.O.D multiplayer zombies. At this point, it was pretty dull. You were herding a massive swarm of zombies in easy circles while your other three teammates cowered in a safe nook and shot out at the hoard. You decided you had enough of picking up their slack and running in endless circles. Letting out a bored sigh, you abruptly stopped moving and allowed the mass of moving pixels to smack you down viciously.

When you went down, they switched directions, and swarmed after the three cowering players, who had nowhere to go, now trapped in their 'safe place.'

It took no longer than a minute for the entirety of your team to die. You listened to them rage at you over the mic but didn't stay long enough hear what they had to say, you took another shower then laid on your bed and chained smoked three cigarettes to your face. When it hit one thirty, you pushed yourself up dressed yourself and left for Blues school.

Phone tight in your hand, you checked your messages for the fourth time since exiting your second shower.

Edge still hadn't texted you.

You couldn't help but feel like you royally screwed up.

-

Following Blues texted address had been more comfortable than expected, he seemed to have mapped the route out as he walked from your house to the school itself, giving an amazingly detailed map with several pictures to help you. You'd left at one-thirty, expecting it to take a while, but ended up reaching the place in ten minutes.

You were twenty minutes early, it was a high school, with some crappy town name that you didn't bother to look at. You sat on a bench across the street from the main entrance, close enough to be seen, but far enough away to not make you look like a lingering creeper.

You yawned, unable to believe that you'd been up for more than half of your day already. You rechecked your phone. No messages. 1:42. Might as well close your eyes to reduce the burn, even for just a few minutes.

The smell of burning plastic roused you from your nap. Your nose curled as you tried to distinguish the scent. The twinge of plastic, fabric? A little hint of tobacco? You squinted open your eyes, eyeing the school in front of you. Okay, so the school was not on fire, you caught orange in your vision and twisted your head just enough to see Stretch sitting on the bench next to you.

He had his legs stretched out longly before him, arms folded over his front. His sockets closed, with his chin tucked against his chest. There was a lit cigarette drooping from his teeth, burning a hole in his hoodie.

You leaned down and searched the ground, finding a stick, you used it to lift the white product up and away from his shirt. You kind of just stayed like that, watching the limber skele doze and occasionally suck in a drag. You couldn't stop the ashes from dropping onto his sweatshirt, though. There was a rather lush pile of grey speckled ashes pooling at his front.

He had to be pretty tired to fall asleep with a lit cigarette.

Alas, after three minutes of holding the cancer stick up for your friend's brother, it was getting dangerously shorter, closer to his teeth. You realized you had to do something, aside from sitting there like a weirdo and watching him sleep.

"Dude." You tried. He didn't flinch.

"Dude." You tried again, and when that didn't work, you went about nudging his shoulder with your unoccupied arm.

"Dude. Wake up." He jerked, and in that motion, Inhaled the remainder of the burning filter into his mouth.

Stretch looked around, his orbs landing on your horrified face.

"oh, hey." He gave you a lazy wave.

"Dude." You said, for the fourth time. "You just swallowed a fuckin' lit cigarette."

Stretch sat up a little straighter, puzzled. "i did?"

His jaw parted for a moment, you watched as he rolled his bright orange tongue ~holy shit he had a tongue~ around in his mouth.

"ah, that explains the taste."

You blinked, having no other reaction to give him.

"Well... You... good?" You asked, somewhat expecting his stomach to burst into flames. He raised a bone brow at you.

"should be." Was his answer, relaxed enough for you to believe it'd happened before. Stretches lids drifted closed again, and though you thought he'd fallen back to sleep it was clear he was awake when the skeleton reached down and offered you a cigarette from his pack. Both of you lit up and resumed sitting in silence. You were breaking the now useless twig a few times in your hands, tossing the pieces into the road.

Stretch smelt like honey and ocean breeze Febreze. It was a pretty strong smell, almost overwhelming... But it was nice.

"So where's Papyrus at?" You asked, attempting to get some words out of him to keep the skeleton brother from falling asleep with another smoke in his mouth. "making the reservations for us." He replied. Well, at least acknowledged the fact that you were going with them.

"Alright." you threw the rest of the stick to the ground.

Stretch's sockets scrunched, he tilted his head towards you, but he wasn't quite looking at you. More angling his skull than anything.

"do you hear that?"

Your eyebrows furrowed as you concentrated on the sounds around you, birds, distant chattering, the ring of the school bell.

"Hear what...? The bell?"

He huffed, rolling his eyelights. "no... That _ noise _."

"Um, no?" 

Wait. You did hear something akin to a ‘noise.’

_ Hieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee_

“Yeah, actually, the hell is that?” You began. Stretch looked up, and you mirrored the action, trying to figure out where and what it was. 

You both spotted him at the same time. Blueberry was running, like some kind of maniac through traffic, straight for the two of you.

“hieeeEEEEEEEEEE~” He squealed, Then, he was upon you, well, not on you, but Stretch. He’d gotten his brother's side so quick, and you could only watch as Blueberry whipped out his gloved hand karate chopped Stretch’s cigarette straight out of his mouth.

“~EE-YAH!” He cried, before stomping down on the cancer stick feverishly. 

You did the smart thing, and plucked yours from your mouth then put it out on the underside of the bench before he could see it.

“WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT SMOKING BY SCHOOLS?” Blueberry demanded, eye lights bright and intimidating. His hands were balled into fists at his side and for a second you thought he was going to go for a punch.

“to not to.” Stretch supplied easily.

“SO WHY ARE YOU THEN?” Blue continued to stand directly in front of his brother, who was still sitting sunk on the bench, hands in his pockets. The taller skeleton was still smiling.

“this ain't school property, bro.” Stretch pointed to one of the power supply posts, where a sign stated. “SCHOOL PROPERTY BEYOND THIS POINT.” In giant red letters. Blueberry glared at it harshly, when he turned back around to probably continue his yellings, he noticed you.

“DAUGHTER!” In a heartbeat, there was a little blue skeleton on your lap, his legs snuck around your lower back, arms around your neck, hugging you where you sat, like a koala, you had enough time to make an ‘oof’ noise before his skull tucked itself under your chin and forced you to look upwards. Was he getting clingier every time he saw you? or was he just like this?

“Heya, dad.” You wrapped your arms around the kid, he liked hugs, and you enjoyed seeing him happy, so you traced your fingers up and down his spine through his shirt and rubbed your cheek against the top of his skull. Physical contact felt nice. You never really noticed that before.

“how was school bro?” Stretch was standing now giving you a confused face, you gave him a ‘help me pls’ look, and he smirked at you.

“GOOD,” Blue replied, nuzzling your chest, the, erm, well… his face was practically squished between your girls; the entire thing felt awkward to you, your face must have been beat red. 

‘Help me.’ you mouthed again, Stretch smirked harder and shrugged. You glared at him. “c’mon bro, we gotta get there ‘fore we miss the reservation.” Stretch tried, he tugged on Blueberries bandana, Blueberry shifted to look over at his brother.

“BUT THEIR SO SOFT, THEIR CHEST IS LIKE A PILLOW.” 

To your horror, Blueberry cupped your breasts in his hands and squeezed without flaw. “I WISH I HAD THESE!” You squeaked, legit, you squeaked. Stretch burst out laughing but decided to intervene, Blueberry was engulfed in an orange glow and lifted off your lap, he flailed around for a second but stopped as he was deposited on the ground.

“BUT STRETCH…!” 

You were way too flustered to do anything other than stand up and shuffle awkwardly towards Stretch’s side. His innocent mind, the poor thing. It’d been the only thing stopping you from slapping him across the face at the unintended advance. 

“maybe they’ll let ya sleep on their pillows later, Blue. were gonna be late if we didn't start walking now.” Blue huffed, clearly annoyed but it evaporated as he began thinking about the super excellent restaurant. He snagged your hand and practically yanked you down the street.

“IT'S GONNA BE SO COOL! _ SO _COOL! I HEARD THEY HAVE MAGIC INFUSED HUMAN FOOD, AND AN OBSTACLE COURSE OUTBACK. I HOPE IT'S COLORFUL AND WARM, AND THAT THE FOOD IS AMAZING! I THINK IM GOING TO TRY SOME QUESADILLAS, DO YOU THINK THEY HAVE THEM THERE? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING OF GETTING? YOU LOOK LIKE A SEAFOOD KIND OF HUMAN, I HOPE THEY HAVE~” You glanced back at Stretch as you ran to keep up with your little friend. He hung back a ways, newly lit cancer stick in his mouth, hands in his hoodie's pockets, one bone brow raised, just carrying the aura of. ‘Im glad it's you and not me.’ you used your unoccupied hand to curl around your back and discreetly give the skeleton the middle finger. He returned it with a wink. 


	12. Uno how it goes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took much longer then I intended it to, life got in the way, works' been a pain. I'm sure all you retail workers know how it goes~ Perhaps the worse part is what some people decide to do to the public bathrooms... Seriously, no respect. If ya know you're _gonna have a bad time_ shittin' the least you can do is tell someone about the mess you made before you leave. Humans can be nasty, remember to look twice before you grab onto something guys.  
Enough about the regular author update... Heres a new chapter!

_ ‘I'm here and gone _

_ I'm dead and done _

_ I know _

_ There's nothing I can change _

_ And I regret _

_ The things I didn't say _

_ I resent _

_ How I walked away _

_ Now I'm digging my own grave _

_ Now I'm digging my own _

_ Digging my own grave’ _

** _Digging My Own Grave- Five Finger Death Punch._ **

** _V LINK V_ **

** _ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JxhDUZZabo> _ **

* * *

You felt like you ran a twelve-mile race without any breaks by the time you reached the restaurants' front. It'd only been a solid ten minutes down the road, but you'd been forced to trot at a strange pace the entire time, being dragged by the kid. Your legs were cramping, and your pinky toe hurt when you put pressure on it. Gods, you fought like a devil with no problem, but some running got the best of you? Daily exercise just wasn't your thing, and it never would be.

Maybe if you exercised you'd win more fights then you currently were. 'Cuz you're definitely lacking in the winner's department right now

Papyrus was waiting at the front door when you got there, he was shuffling nervously at first when you saw him from a distance, but once his eyes set on you, you could taste his excitement when it snapped across his face.

"HUMAN Y/N!"

"Hey pa-" Papyrus bound foreword and caught you in a spine shattering hug, several impressive pops sounded at the pressure. It felt good, Extremely good. How long has it been since your back got cracked like that? People would pay substantial money for what you just experienced. Ten years' worth of bad decisions left your body; helpless to the feeling, you sagged in his grip.

Papyrus went still.

"DID YOU BREAK THEIR BACK?" Blueberry cried out; the amount of horror in his voice had you wriggling in Papyrus's grip <strike>to prove you were alive</strike> _before_ they could freakout as they had at the store.

"I DON'T THINK SO~" Papyrus released his hold immediately, stepping back in fear for what he may have done. He looked ready to retreat but threw himself foreword to help you stand when you wobbled, his want to help others stronger.

"OH MY GOD, HUMAN!_ DIH_~" A breath."~DID I BREAK YOUR SPINE?"

"No!" The reply was quick. You let him help you, if only to preserve that pure ego of his. "My back is fine! I'm good!" You replied as you straightened. "It felt amazing honestly; I really needed that. thanks, Paps." The skeleton stood a little straighter, his natural smile broadening; he had a hand on your shoulder keeping you grounded. It just rested there, covering your shoulderblade entirely encasing it in warmth, it was oddly comfortable and satisfying to feel. You didn't comment.

One thing for sure, Papyrus's touch was therapeutic. 

"IN THAT CASE, ILL HAVE TO BREAK YOUR BACK MORE OFTEN! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus declared.

Stretch snorted, and Blueberry's eyes were stars as he watched the display, you had no idea why. Papyrus must inspire the kid; they _were_ very similar.

"OH, ALSO!" Papyrus gave you a second to look up.

"YOU LOOK ALMOST AS GREAT AS ME TODAY." He told you, nodding down at your choice of clothes. He let go of your shoulder and spun on his heel, marching through the door. You blinked down at yourself.

_Oh_, you threw on some decent clothes before heading over, you couldn't recall getting dressed. You smiled in approval for your unconscious dressing choice.

"Thanks, Paps. I didn't try."

He leads you into the restaurant, the three of you followed closely behind. One of the waiters sat you down at your seat, and you wiggled to get comfortable. You sat at the wall side of the booth, of course. You always had when you were a child, it gave you security, You felt safer there with Stretch lounging on one side and a non-threatening wall on the other.

The last time you went to a restaurant, it was, well. A really long time ago. There were a few monsters seated, but the majority of the consumers were human, about half of looked in your direction at least once. You felt some paranoia crawl over your skin. There were quite a few people here, they were nothing like the spectators in the pits. Your eyes caught with a scruffy faced man whose lack of body fat made you generally concerned for his health. He was probably wearing the only pair of good clothes he's ever owned. He didn't seem disgusted or angry, but the look was gave you was not a nice one. You paused, wondering if that look could have been his face. You'd seen many resting bitch faces at the grounds, some pretty impressive, so you were open to that prospect.

He was seated directly behind Papyrus and Blueberry's booth. You took a moment to look over the interior while Blueberry and Papyrus instantly began chatting with each other. The room was a clash of dark brown, white, and orange, colors dark enough to set the room in a pleasant and warm mood. Your sight panned over the other seats, tables in the middle, booths along the walls, candle-shaped lamps at each table. This place would be great for a date. You unconsciously filed that information aside for later.

Then your eyes locked on him again. That same glaring dude.

_Did he want to fight?_

He really looked like he wanted to fight.

_Could you throw fists here?_

Nah, you'd take it outside.

You accepted the supposed challenge, narrowing your eyes you scowled at him

His head tilted, eyebrows rising in general shock.

You stopped at that: it seams you had been right to assume his face simply looked like that. He looked honestly hurt over the harsh intent in your gaze.

Well shit, Now you're the asshole. How to correct this...

_Why do you care about what this stranger feels? _

You didn't know, in an attempt to repair the damage you'd done, you copied his motion, tilting your head and wriggling your eyebrows. He squinted a little, smiled, then stuck his tongue out at you in the goofiest non-threatening way. You let out a few quiet chuckles, unable to hold them in. The man went back to his food, a little grin on his face.

"SEE, Y/N THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY!" Papyrus's voice. The only reason you registered it was because he was louder when his head was facing your direction. Stretch proved he wasn't a decoration by shifting and letting out _another_ snort~ <strike>seriously this guy could be a pig in another life with all his snorting.</strike> ~apparently present through whatever the hell that bonding session with the stranger was."What?" You barked, Stretch shrugged, both of you oblivious to the loud conversation the two other skeletons continued having directly across from you. 

"I SAID, I WONDER WHAT KIND OF SPEGETTI'S THEY HAVE," Papyrus answered, you flashed a surprised look that quickly melted into amusement. That works, you guessed.

"Probably all kinds." Your waiter for the night came by and dropped off your menus, you opened it up and looked through. In the end, you settled on the cheapest thing- fries and some mozzarella sticks. Blueberry saw some empanadas and immediately wanted to try them because they looked like tacos, and if you're honest, the ones he gave you were more like empanadas then tacos. Stretch ordered pancakes with a side of honey and managed to convince Papyrus to get something utterly random off the menu.

The waiter took your orders and left you all with a promise to return with your food soon.

Papyrus surprised you when he broke off from his current sentence to say. "Y/N? BLUE AND I WANTED TO ASK YOU WHERE YOU GOT THAT SCAR FROM?" He pointed to his face, finger tracing where the thick slash mark crescent-moon-curved from the top of your forehead to your bottom lip. It turned the pale flesh paler. You reached up to touch it and gave a smile, though the memory was not a happy one.

He asked. It was a story you've wanted to tell but had no one to share it with.

You opened your mouth but stopped.

It was a story you wanted to tell but couldn't — not the full truth.

"IM SORRY, WAS IT RUDE TO ASK?" He fumbled with his gloves a bit; you reached out and put a hand over them to steady his nervousness.

"It's not. 's'a pretty crazy story." You warned him with playfully narrowed eyes. This was one of those stories that you could easily elude significant details. Papyrus looked hopefull.

"I was fighting one night. Fistfight, a good one too. 'Till he came at me with a blow torch." You leaned back in your booth, closing your eyes as you vividly recalled the struggle. "It happened onna street, 'few blocks away from my house. The one guy was mad at me for beatin' him a different time. So he got his friends t'old me down while he torched my face." You ran your fingers down the slight raise of the scar. "I was lucky I didn't go blind. But my sights always been bad in that eye." Blueberry shifted while Papyrus's focused face melted into a grimace.

"WHAT A CRUEL HUMAN." He declared.

"YEAH! A FIST FIGHT IS HONORABLE! EQUAL CHANCES!" Blueberry supplied. "BUT THAT'S JUST NOT FAIR." He crossed his arms and glowered; you wondered what he was thinking and why.

You felt Stretch shift.

"ya don't seem to upset over it." He noted, giving you a sideways look. You tilted your head, you weren't too upset over it, no, he was right. "Happened a long time ago. And id be lyin' if I said I diden deserve it." You shrugged, and for a moment, you thought Stretch had actually glared at you. The look was gone before you could sneak a double take, taken over by his regular slack and relaxed face.

"I'M SURE YOU DIDN'T DESERVE THAT, Y/N." Papyrus muttered earnestly, leaning foreword to return your earlier sentiment with a gloved pat to the back of your hand. "DID YOU GO TO THE POLICE?"

Hearing that word brought forth a bubble of laughter out of you, you threw your head back and let it out, the irony. Police. The police never did shit in this town, with your lack of proper identification, you'd be shoved aside with a 'we'll look into it'

"Ah, nah." You finally finished, wiping a stray tear from your cheek. You rarely laugh, and when you do, your eyes usually burn for some unknown reason.

"Never did contact any police. Happened years ago, so." Papyrus gave you a look of disappointment. "Also, I started the fight the las' time so it was provoked." You raised your hands, still smiling. "Yup, 's all on me." No one spoke, and for a few seconds you thought you'd just ruined your chances with them. Were you too straightforward? It wasn't until you searched Papyrus's gaze did you realize they were patiently waiting for you to continue. Well, the two loud ones were, Stretch was staring at the ceiling, his eye lights so faded you couldn't see them without staring. He looked out of it, so you didn't bother him.

"I fought." You spoke up, capturing the two's attention once more. "'Cuz I have that right to defend myself. If I decided to run, anyway, there's no doubts that they woulda' followed me. Jus' postponing the inevitable. After I faced'em, they left me alone. Problem solved."

"SO YOU ARE A TALENTED GUARDSMEN, LIKE WE WERE?" Blue jumped in, he swatted Papyrus's chassis armor with his knuckles in gesture to point at him, no doubt making contact on accident. He was quick to apologise to Papyrus for hitting him, but the taller skeleton barely noticed, he was already jumping to conclusions before you could respond.

"YOU MUST BE A GUARD! ONLY ROYAL GUARDS WOULD FIGHT WITH SUCH LOGIC, BUT! YOU ARE HUMAN." His sockets squinted, and he leaned foreword. "SO YOU CANNOT BE A ROYAL GUARD!~"

"IT DISBANDED ANYWAY PAPS." Blue tried to squeeze a sentence in, but Papyrus continued over him.

"~WHICH MEANS, YOU MUST BE SOMETHING ELSE. YOU NEVER TOLD US YOUR JOB." He put a gloved hand to his chin as he thought. You really didn't want to touch on that subject now; you knew you couldn't avoid it forever, especially with Stretch giving you the side-eye. "BEING ABLE TO SURVIVE THREE ON ONE IS AN HONORABLE FEAT: THEREFORE, YOU MUST BE SKILLED IN THE CRAFT. DO YOU TRAIN?~"

Blueberry gasped at that one word. "DOYOUWANTTOTRAINWITHUS?"

"~HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT OBSTACLE COURSES?~"

"HAVEYOUEVERJUMPEDTHROUGHA_BURNINGRINGOFFIRE?_"

"~ARE YOU A VIGILANTLY?"

Your lucky you weren't eating anything because the bombing of questions from both Blue and Papyrus would've had you choking on whatever was in your mouth. You stared at them, blank-faced, silently wondering if they were indeed done. The last question, spewed by Papyrus, gave you an idea.

You leaned foreword and said, just loud enough for the three of them to hear you.

"Yeah, I'm a vigil, but ya gotta keep it a secret. No one can know. You're brilliant, paps. Guessing that on the first go." Papyrus beamed.

"OF COURSE I AM, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS AFTER ALL! NYEH HEH HEH! BUT DO NOT WORRY HUMAN, YOUR SECRET IS SAFE WITH ME."

"I WON'T TELL A SOUL Y/N!" Blue added probably only agreeing because Papyrus had. You gave Stretch a once over, wondering if he knew it was a lie or if he believed it this time. He gave his infamous response.

A shrug.

"'won't say nothin." You couldn't determine

You feel something gross rise in the pit of your stomach, like your intestines were trying to strangle your heart.

You didn't have much time to think about it, your food came, and you all settled into a casual conversation and small talk while you ate.

* * *

The food was so good, that you'd eaten it all within the first half-hour. You were there until four-thirty, waiting for the others to finish. During this time, you noticed, out of all the skeletons you'd met and their similarities, Blueberry and Papyrus were the two most alike to each other. They looked, acted, and even felt like twins.

One would speak, and the other would finish his sentence; they talked to each other through glances that had you feeling out of the loop. One would start speaking about something and the other would encourage everything they said, and often fell into tangents. it was like they shared thoughts. The biggest display being when Blueberry commented on an outfit someone was wearing, and Papyrus grunted. Somehow, Blueberry understood, continuing with the conversation.

Clearly, they were stuck together like glue, and you inwardly loved it. You'd always wanted to befriend a pair of twins, knowing that every group just had to have one er... Two. They weren't twins, but they were related, and that was good enough for you.

After your group said their goodbyes, you took to walking the streets, aimlessly wandering as you thought over Chiefs offer. You greatly enjoyed what you were doing now, it made you money but it was no real job. You could try it, he said nothing about not giving it a try first. Yes, you're settled. You'd go see Chief today and ask him about it.

  
You ended up in the same park you met Sans at, it was still a good time of day, so humans and monsters alike were milling about in the park, relaxing or having a good time. You found a bench away from the busier part, surrounded by a circle of trees. You sat back and relaxed on it. You pulled out your phone and the pack of cigerettes Stretch had given you when you were injured, lighting one up, you used the other hand to open and check your phone.

  
Disappointment crawled inside you at Edges' lack of response. Still, after all this time, most of the day going by, he hadn't bothered to text back.

Had you invaded his space? Did he not like the cheek kiss? You couldn't figure out what exactly inspired you to do such a thing; he was being so sweet, and your brain was screaming at you to do it. You should've thought twice, you probably pushed him away.

Then, your phone vibrated in your hand.  
You were super quick to look at the message, only for it to have come from Sans.

The guy who thinks he's funny- Whaddya call a fish with no no eye?

You decided to humor him.

Y/N- What?

The guy who thinks he's funny- Fsh.

You snorted but otherwise didn't laugh. You heard that one before, on the internet somewhere. Still, even if he hadn't made it himself; It was creative. You were about to respond, probably with an XD face, but another text from Sans stopped you.

The guy who thinks he's funny- knock knock

Y/N- whose there?

The guy who thinks he's funny- Bench.

Y/N- Bench who?

"bencha didn't expect to see me here." You whipped around, the voice startling you, but you smiled. He executed that perfectly, you'd give him credit.

"Nice one."

"heh, thanks kid." He rounde the bench an pointed next to you. "This seat taken?" You shook your head, shoving your phone into your pocket as he sat and relaxed back, hands deep In his pockets. The setting sun splotched against his bones making him look incredibly shiny.

"Do ya live here 'er sommem?" You asked, before you could really stop yourself. Of course he didn't live in the park, y/n, the hell are you thinking?

"nah, I work a hotdog stand." He replied casually, jabbing a thumb behind him, you followed the trail and just then noticed the hotdog stand placed in the middle of the park. You Ah'd, unsure how to keep the conversation going.

"you good?" He asked, taking control of said conversation himself, you were thankful for it.

"Yeah. Jus' a lil' confused."

"'bout what?"

You gnawed on the inside of your lip a bit, thinking of the best way to say it.

"My boss wants to promote me." You began, taking a drag of your cigarette. "But it ain't what I'm used to, I don't know what I'd be doin' and he said it's be dangerous. He tol' me to think 'bout it an I'm leanin' towards yes but... I've been doin' what I've been doin' for about six years. I don't wanna screw up, yanno?" A weight you didn't know you were holding fell off your shoulders at your words. He was quiet, his eye lights small, he must've been thinking.

"try it out first." He said, the exact conclusion you'd come to. "I'm sure you'll do fine." His words solidified your own thoughts. Yes, you would try.

"Thanks, babe." You said with a playful wink, you finished off your cigarette, putting it out on the ground at your feet; then pulled out your phone to send Edge a text, though you doubted he'd respond.

Y/N- Heading to the grounds.

You waited a few seconds for him to reply, head minutely slumping every second that went by; you gave up, scoffing under your breath as you returned your device to it's resting place. You got up.

"Well imma head there 'en let'im know." Sans stood up with you, by the leer In his stance you could tell he had more to say.

"'Bout Edge." He blurted, nervously shifting from foot to foot. At his name, you stiffened. He could've easily read the text you sent, how could you be so stupid? 

"Mmh?" You hummed.

"don't worry 'bout him. He can get real distant. and if he ain't payin' enough attention to you. I'm here." He finally returned your earlier wink, it went perfectly with his natrual smile. "Later y/n, good luck." With that, he teleported. A quick scan showed him back at his hotdog stand, giving you a wave.

You waved back, and started your journey to The Grounds.  
-  
Arriving at the bar was the same as it usually was. You blended in with the somewhat shady crowed, hoodie up, baggy pants, face downcast and hiden. The regulars knew your style doubtless, but you'd earned their respect enough for them to simply give a wave as you passed.

The first thing you notice upon your steps towards the entrance of the Grounds, was the lack of Jeff. There was someone else taking his place, someone you knew vaguely. You didn't conned the dots until you got up close. It was Z.

He gave you a grin as you approached, one that showed off his pride at his new position.

"Movin' up in the world eh?" You pulled forth your pass from your jackets pocket, he took it and briefly looked it over.

"Hell yeah, imma big boy now." You looked up at his large, broad muscles and tall structure.

"I hate to break it to ya but ya've kinda always been a big boy. Ya looked at yerself lately?" He chuckled, returning your pass he stepped aside. "Was joking slick, ya here for the meeting?"

Slick?

You decided to ignore that part.

Meeting?

"Uh... No?"

He gave a confused face. "No? Chief saidda look out fer ya, an' yer skele bud, that you both was invited to the meetin'" your face went blank as your mind turned. He was expecting you? How did he know you'd come here today?

"Okay thanks Z."

You walked by him and into the grounds.

"'S Zyd." You paused and looked back before the door could close on you, one foot out to stop it from swinging into your side.

"Zyd?" Unused to hearing such a strange concoction of letters.

"Yee, my name. Zyd, Zydrate. Nice to meet ya, officially."

"I'm Y/n, nice to know your name too."  
-  
You went to chiefs office once when you were just starting out, you couldn't recall why, and barely remembered the way there. It was a tedious route, following a hallway longer and windier then it needed to be, it circled two of the arenas and had various doors before the hallway finally broke off Into the office 'building.'

Which, just so happened to be the basement of an old hospital that was abandoned in the 1900's, located somewhere behind the bar tucked away behind a graveyard. You never went to the hospital above ground, the route there from the basement had since been locked up, the area was kept clean to Chiefs standards, no doubt done by the man himself in his spare time.

Walking up to Chief's office, you could hear three voices muffled through the door, you pushed it open, and choked down a laugh.  
Chief, Jeff, and Hayley sat two chairs apart from each other at a big round table, it sounded like the start to a bad joke. There were two large pizzas and four big bottles of soda on said table, Uno cards set up in stacks. They were playing Uno, fucking _Uno._

"Y/n!" Hayley greeted, beaming a shit-eating smile in your direction. She only had two cards, looks like she was winning.

"Good they're here!" Jeff announced, throwing his twenty-something cards onto the table. "Now we can stop the game."

"Yer only sayin' tha' cuz yer losin'" chief chuckled, he folded his cards and sat them down gently.

"Uno? Seriously guys?" You said as you walked in.

"Gangsters play card games yeah?" Chief reasoned. "Gotta get'n tha' mindset yee?"

"They play poker, And blackjack, and gamble, chief." You replied. "Not Uno." He looked flustered, pursing his lips he crossed his arms across his big chest.

"Well ah'unno shit." He scrubbed a massive hand across his face from pure embarrassment.

"I think your thinking about a mob, Boss. Mobs gamble, gangs kill things. I thought we were jus' killing time. " Jeff replied.

"I don't think that's accurate." Hayley implied, she got up and began collecting the colorful cards.

"I don't think_ your_ accurate." Jeff snapped back, half amused.

"Wow, creative words." She hummed. "Also, it's You're. Pretty sure you said your, which is grammatically incorrect." She added, Chief sat back, eyebrows raised as he watched them bicker.

"Can ya read spoken words or something? Your you're yer, 's all the same."

"Not in the dictionary it isn't."

"Aight children." Chief chuckled out. "Chill yer shit. Hayley, ya wanna snap'n someone fer not usin' tha right words then ya shoul' be snappin' on meh. Ah'm sure ah got tha' worse spellin' in history." You took a seat, two chairs away from Jeff, thinking this was already a pattern you might as well keep it even.

"Is yer monster friend not comin' in?" Chief asked you once you sat down. You shrugged.

"I messaged him but he hasn't responded." To prove this, you opened your messages and showed Chief your friends lack of response. He hummed, reaching out a finger to scroll through your entire four line conversation. He looked amused at your frustrated face.

"'E read it though." He snickered.

"Yeah, he's been doin' that." You replied, frowning.

"Aight, well jus' start this then."

"And what exactly is 'this?' You questioned. Your boss cleared his throat, he intertwined his hands and waited patiently for Hayley to take her seat. You watched Jeff fork half a piece of pizza down his throat as silently as he could during the pause.

"This." He said. "Is tha' beginin'a our lil' investigative gang. All'a'ya know were bein' targeted by now. By wha' ah assume issa gang. Hayley." With a nod in her direction, the lengthy woman opened up a small chromebook laptop and took a breath and read from her.

"For the last five months one, or multiple different, masked men with cross tattoos have snuck into the building. It seems to be happening once a month, each time they've killed one of our fighters and left without gathering their reward. The first few times I assumed it was random incidents, giving, each target had no similarities and no history with each other, but after the third one I came to the conclusion that this is an orchestrated attack."

She flipped the chrome book around, showing five different cameras screens from her security system. You winced, Hayley had to look after these systems on her own, you really hope she was paid well.

"They enter by sneaking in with groups of four or more spectators. Each time they've worn the same clothes. Baggy black sweatpants, hooded leather jacket, with either a pure black face mask or a skeletal face mask. They go straight to the preparation bay, and aren't seen again until they're called into the pits. Y/n." You'd been so focused on her words that your name being called had actually startled you, you looked up.

"You're the only survivor so far, can you tell me, for informational purposes, what happened to you in the moments leading up to your fight?"

"It was kind'a normal." You said, voiced slowly with your thinking. "I came to ya to get Edge a pass then I went to prep and find myself a target. My... Name was already written down."

"Someone wrote your name down?"

"Void, yeah. He'd signed me up without my knowledge."

"So with alla'this." Chief cut in.. "Ah've decided ta' get ya'll together ta form a resistance against them. We know they're attackin' once'a month. 'Tween tha 20th an' tha' 28th. We needa make sure we double our guards on these days, an' report anyone matching tha' description. 'side from tha'. I wanned'a talk ta alla'ya 'bout how comfortable ya'd feel with outside investigatin'"

His eyes locked on yours, now directly speaking to you.

"Hayley was able ta' follow yer attacker by hackin' inta' street cam's fer quite a ways. Void didn't seem ta care'a bout hidin himself once he exited."

"Probably because he knows we weren't onto him." Jeff said, reaching for another slice of probably cold by now pizza.

"'Zactly. We caught'em goin' Inta' a house 'cross the street from'a lil' monster bar. Y/n, ya'n jeff're the only fighters we got in on this right now. Ah wanna send ya both there tonight ta check it out. No contact. Tha' sooner we get information tah' quicker we can find out why."

You and Jeff looked eachother over, and though it felt too much for you, you had a spark of excitement rising in your heart. You wanted to do this, you wanted justice for you and others like you, and also, you wanted to feel safe again. Also, sneaky ninja mission, you'd be a badass.

"Yeah, I'll go."

"Sounds like a plan, boss." Jeff said between bites.

"Good. Hayley, print'em off tha' address. Jeff... Stop eatin' ah ain't wantcha ta puke."

"Screw off." Jeff replied, munching on the crust. "The wife don't cook at home and I'm tired of ramen."

"If you compromise this mission cuz ya puke on their doorstep imma find ya an' beat ya." Chief said sternly, glaring at the bouncer who frowned and decided against grabbing another slice.

"Now get goin' wan'cha back'n two hours tops with a report." For a guy with no real idea about what he was doing, he sure knew how to cut to the chase and order people around.You got up and grabbed a cold slice of the pizza, walking beside Jeff as you both exited the office.  
It was going to be one hell of a night.

* * *

Want to ask me some questions or give suggestions? You can reach me here.

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	13. He'll be there

_ ‘Kill me? I'd like to see you try _

_ You take my life, I fail to die _

_ The fires fade, now close your eyes _

_ And sing my undead lullaby _

_ The night will fall and swallow light _

_ To fill my dark hollow inside _

_ And yet my death is all but nigh _

_ Sing my undead lullaby _

_ I sing my undead lullaby _

_ So far from life, yet cannot die _

_ This is my undead lullaby _

_ My cursed undead lullaby _

_ Sent to my grave, again I rise_

_To sing my undead lullaby.’ _

**Undead Lullaby - JT Music**

**V ** **LINK** ** V**

[ **https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JY5bBMj5kw** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JY5bBMj5kw)

* * *

Hoods up and faces down, the walk took half an hour, and ten minutes of that had been you and Jeff wandering around trying to find which house was the right one. They all looked the same, aside from personal details, they probably were the same model. 

The house was dark, but it looked as it had in the surveillance footage, down to the ill-kempt lawn ornaments and that strange stone statue of a naked lady with a snake around her shoulders. 

You had to admit; it looked pretty cool. 

Jeff took his steps with purpose, right up the porch to the nearest window. He peeked inside shamelessly and went as far as to shine the flashlight of his phone through it to get a better look inside. 

You snorted at that. 

_“Very_ discrete, Jeff.” You hummed he turned and gave you a pointed look from beneath his hood. “The lights are off, no ones here.” He justified, he tried the window and grunted when it didn’t budge. 

“We’re here to poke around, yee? So let’s get pokin'.” Jeff nodded and slunk off to the right side, rounding the porch you took the left, looking over the exterior of the home. It seemed to be two stories, with a possible attic judging by the small circular window right under the roof. There was an extensive fence encasing the homes’ backyard, but through the cracks, you could see the various playground equipment and a decent-sized pool. 

Void had a few children. By the size of the play area, you assumed more than three. 

The gate, of course, was locked. 

So you put on your brave face and climbed over, no sooner than your feet hit the ground, did you hear a sound from your right. You looked over and saw Jeff had come to the same conclusion, to climb over the fence. 

He didn’t have as much luck as you though: He was mutedly hanging over the side, hood grazing the ground, with the cuff of his bellbottom slacks caught on the wood. He struggled to free himself, and once he had, gravity yanked him headfirst downwards, his neck bent at an awkward angle that had you hissing and simultaneously biting back a laugh. He melted into the puddle beneath him and grumbled something, momentarily unaware that you'd witnessed the entire thing.

You accidentally blew something akin to a raspberry while trying to hold back your laughter.

He was quick to look in your direction with pure embarrassment all over his face. 

You immediately looked away, pretending you hadn’t seen him yet, though, on the inside, you were dying. 

There’s no way you’re going to let that slip. Seeing the bouncers face so expressive like that was a memory you wanted to keep tucked away for a rainy day. 

You tried not to laugh as you inspected the yard. It must’ve rained recently around here because the ground held puddles and the grass squelched under your footsteps. You noticed a shed in the furthermost corner of the backyard, the door was slightly ajar, and it peeked your curiousness, you intended to head over, but Jeff called your name and changed your mind.

You looked back; he was holding the handle of the homes sliding glass door, making a point to open and close it a few times while you were watching. 

“Back doors not locked.” He explained, shining his flashlight inside, you joined him slowly making your way inside the house. The more you looked around, the clearer it became. This house was ordinary as hell. It was well kept, well-lived in, and organized. It seemed no one had been around for a few hours, but the place was still warm and smelt like a freshly baked pastry. It was spacious, furniture arranged to leave more room for walking and moving about, toys stacked against the wall, some still splayed about in the living room. The longer you stayed, the more you felt confused. What kind of information were you looking for again? Whoever this Void was, the guy had a beautiful life going for him. His home felt happy. Looking at the random knickknacks reminded you of your childhood life more often than not. You never put much thought to that anymore, but you had quite a few siblings, your home had been the size, if not bigger then this one.

Sadly… You couldn’t remember the names of your siblings, not at that moment.

Isolation did that to you. 

Jeffs’s footsteps came down the steps from upstairs you looked up at him from the kitchen as he stopped. “I don’t get it, what are we looking for?” He asked the exact question you’d been thinking.

“Er… information? ‘Bouta gang?” You supplied. 

“Well, there’s nothing upstairs. There are five bedrooms, and two of the kids’ rooms had bunk beds. The guys busy as hell~” You cut him off with your one huff laugh, that much was evident. The dude could’ve been a Rabbit Monster with all of the family shit going on here. You were no amateur to crimes, but being here felt wrong, almost. You headed up the stairs with Jeff, both of you silent even though no one else was here. There was nothing about any gangs in the children’s room, of course. The office and the master were also de_void _of any useful information. It wasn’t until you noticed a second door inside the master bathroom did either of you find anything remotely... Not perfect.

Seriously, there was a locked door next to the toilet in the bathroom, and it wasn’t a cupboard or wardrobe. Out of any place to put this, why here?

“'Course the one sketchy thing we come across is locked,” Jeff said, frustration evident in the way he wiggled the handle roughly. You inspected the door, then laid down in front of it. 

“That’s nasty, y/n.” He winced out, and he was right, it was. It was neat and tidy, but nothing beat the grossness of sprawling out on the floor of a stranger’s bathroom. 

“It’s for the cause.” You replied through a smile as you pressed your cheek against the tile and tried to look under the crack. 

What you saw was the last thing you expected. 

The place was a death trap of computers and wires, and you could hear the faint humming of a machine's hard-working fan. Perhaps this was why the place was so warm. You could feel the heat from here.

“What do you see?” Jeff muttered close to your ear. You could feel his breath on your neck, and you turned to look up at him. He was squatting beside you, _ really _close, with this eager look on his face.

“Dude.” you lifted a bathroom-floor-tainted hand shoved it at his face. “Space.” you finished. He shuffled backward, hands up in surrender.

“Sor~”

“~But anyway. I see a bunch of computers. And parts? I think that one in the corner is a Playstation 6~” You tried to wiggle your hand under the crack to reach for it, being the closest thing to the door. "~Gimmie~" You only got a few fingers through, your effort proved useless. “~And I only know that ‘cuz I’ve been wantin’ one’a those for, like, months an’ I’ve seen every picture online ‘bout it.” You rushed the last part waving your free hand, unsure as to why you were sharing personal information like that. Jeff barked out one of his laughs you felt the wind as he stood up. “That it?”

You squinted and began relaying what you saw as you saw it. “The walls’re white, and there’s several desks, lots, and lots a’papers, I think? I cant see that angle, but I think there’s a bookcase? -But no, you should write this down.” You wiggled so your face was flush against the door~ You were damn sure people more equipt for this kind of thing had more comfortable ways of peeking into a room — more sanitary means. You were not one of these people. 

“One, two, three… four monitors, they have hella' thick wires, looks like some tame anime shit goin’ on’n’ere. I see one chair, just one.” You paused a moment, listening to Jeff scratch out your words in a notebook “The chairs pink.” You continued.

“In case you were wondering.”

“-Also there’s a lot of information in here an’ i don’t think we’re gonna get it right now” You finished lazily and pulled away from the door, moving to sit up. Jeff stood over you. 

“Seems like enough for just poking around.” He reasoned shrugging. “Pretty sure discrete, no contact mission means not breaking down doors.” You agreed, there was nothing less sneaky then leaving a broken door in your wake, if you both left now, you doubted anyone returning would know you were here. 

Well, unless they found your face prints on the bathroom floor. 

It seemed fate had other plans for you, and Just as you stood up, a loud crash echoed through the entirety of the house. You yelped, the suddenness of it catching you. Jeff reached for his waistband but stopped when he realized there was no gun there.

“We gotta go,” Jeff said quickly, turning to you. You nodded and took off after him into the master bedroom. He went straight for the window and started clearing the area furniture. You cringed.

Were you panicking?

Was he panicking? 

“Dude, its the second floor.” You said nervously, teetering back and forth from barricading the door with a dresser to hovering behind the bouncer, waiting for him to move everything out of the way. 

“You see any other way?” he was already halfway out the window, The approaching footsteps coming up the stairs decided the answer for you. You scrambled up to the window, adrenaline making your body tremble. 

“There is a place for your foot. The grounds not that far away,” he said, using that small overhang to shimmy himself across the outside of the house. 

“Dude, move.” You urged, his face was still in the window, and you wanted to get out. _ Now. _ Something struck the door inside the room: you paid no attention to it, climbing over the window sill you dropped your legs out and felt around for the overhang, Forcing jeff to slide his way over. Jeff looked at you, then down at the ground. 

“Seriously. I think we’ll be fine.” He said. At that moment, you felt terrible; Yes, jeff was panicking. He was sweating like crazy, and he looked near tears. He was trying to speak calmly, but you could hear the fear in his voice. 

“Ya wanna test that?” You teased, putting a little humor into your words. You looked into the window you just climbed out of, the furniture you used to barricade it had fallen over.

Jeff laughed at your tone, and you saw his knuckles flex. “Ah… tuck and roll?” 

You grinned at him. “Tuck'n'roll Jeff, you got this.” Jeff let go and pushed himself off the side. He dropped neither tucking nor rolling. It really hadn’t been that long of a fall, but he hit the ground on his ass and immediately let out a cry of pain.

“AH FUCK MY ASS!” You hear him scream, and you didn’t have much time to dwell on his possible injury, the door inside the house burst open sending debris all over the bedroom, with the bang, you launched yourself off.

"**_STOP~"_**

Only to be caught around your wrist mid-fall by a hand 

A bony hand.

“_WHY_ ARE YOU THROWING YOURSELF OUT WINDOWS.” Your panic melted into relief as you were hoisted up by your arm to come face to face with none other than Edge. He had a wild look in his eye, and a red glowing bone hovered behind him. 

“Oh, thank Satan.” You sighed out, sagging in his grip. You won’t lie; you nearly pissed yourself. “What’re ya doin’ here Gg?” 

“SAVING YOU FROM JUMPING OUT WINDOWS, APPARENTLY.” He replied, his jagged mouth lifting into a grin. “YOU COULD HAVE HURT~.”

“_ My fuckin’ assbone, FUCK.” _

Edges browbones knitted together, he leered halfway out the window, still holding you mid-air, to look down at Jeff, he was squatting in the mud, a hand over his bottom. 

You yelled down to the poor man before Edge could laugh at him. “Its just Edge, Jeff!”

“_What? _” He cried up at you, Edge and Jeff made eye contact.

“I just jumped out a _fucking _ window, probably broke my _ass_, and its _ '**just Edge!'**” _Jeff struggled to stand up. You were pulled back inside the house and dropped onto your feet. You could still hear Jeff yelling outside. At this point, there was no way you could finish this quietly, but now that you already made a mess…

You poked your head back out the window. “Jeff!” You called down to the injured man. You briefly caught the face of a young child looking through their bedroom window, from the house next door. 

Now there were witnesses. 

Welp.

“Go on and wobble back. We’ll catch up with you.” You pulled your head back in at Jeff's non-commital response. Edge was already combing through the same places you had been before. “So, I take it Chief sent you here?” You asked, pushing past him to the bathroom; you already knew where the goodies were.

“YES, I GOT YOUR TEXT AND WENT THERE. HE SENT ME HERE.” He replied, curt, simple, a perfect response. You had the feeling he’d gone through something like this before.

“We’ll since we already trashed the place, there’s a room in here you should bust through.” You guided the lumbering skeleton into the bathroom, hiding the fact that you were annoyed with him; the dude left you on read, for an entire day, then shows up like nothing happened? 

Edge summoned a bone and sent it straight through the doors handle with little to no effort, you watched him toss open the door and move inside, and you sighed. 

Fine, you’d forget about it.

He took the lead, and you decided, after all the excitement, to hang back and poke through some of the paper files. Most of it was about some sciency thing you couldn't understand. Both of you were silent as you absorbed the information without taking anything. He worked at a lab, a scientist for alternate energy. It was almost impossible to believe the guy was that smart by the way he looked when you saw him. He had pictures of his wife and kids across his various desks. You counted five different children, maybe six, twins, or something. 

There was still nothing, though. 

Nothing about any gang. All the information here pertained to this lab, Starlight Energy. 

“I Don’t Think We Should Stay Here Much Longer.” Edge spoke up after about twenty minutes of silent searching. His skull was craned, listening to something in the distance. After the spook you had before, you were more than eager to listen to Edge’s warning and split. Edge scooped you up bridal style and jumped fearlessly from the still open window. He landed hard but firm with no more than a small grunt. Your face flushed as he carried you to the treeline, he let you down though, once you were there. 

“Uh, thanks?” You muttered, giving a little dismissive wave. You felt Edges glare and remembered just then his problem with being thanked. You opened your mouth to change the subject with something probably stupid when he spoke up.

“YOU’RE WELCOME. ITS A GOOD THING I WAS HERE! OR YOU WOULD HAVE ENDED UP LIKE THAT SORRY SOD.” He pointed to Jeff, who made it three or four trees away in the twenty minutes you’d left him. You laughed, flashing the skeleton a smile before making your way over to the bouncer. 

“Ya ready to report, soldier?” You asked him, wrapping an arm around his side to stabilize him. His face was ripe with embarrassment at the night’s event, and honestly, he just looked done with life. 

But instead of complaining about it, he looked up at you and grinned. “Better not let the wife see ya handling me like this.” He reached up and tapped the scar on your face. “Might have a matching one if ya get caught.” You rolled your eyes, doubting the woman could hurt you as the thugs had. 

“THIS MIGHT GO FASTER IF I TAKE THE INJURED ONE.” Edge said, matching your slow and staggering stride with an almost bored attitude. You gave him a look, and he understood without needing a verbal response. “YES, IM SERIOUS.” In one swift motion, he plucked jeff away from you and hoisted him over his shoulder. Jeff protested with a few yells but ultimately went limp when he realized he no longer had to put in any energy. A familiar dull red glow enveloped Jeff’s lower half, out of sight of the human himself. You were reluctant to let Edge heal your sneak mate after the talk with Toriel, but soon dismissed that thought; Edges healing was right, for small things. A bruised ass seemed like just the small thing.

“I HAVE TO CARRY MY BROTHER ALL THE TIME ANYWAY; RED ONLY MOVES WHEN HE FEELS LIKE IT. I FIGURED HE WAS JUST LAZY BUT I'M STARTING TO THINK ITS A REAL MEDICAL CONDITION.” You smirked, missing his voice more then you thought you should. When you got back, would he return to ignoring you?

You didn’t know, but that was his choice, for right now? You’re going to get as many words out of him that you could. 

“Yeah? Well, it’s appreciated.” Jeff added in, the two of you fell into a walk together, steps nearly perfect. “It’s awkward, but it’s nice. I’ve never been treated so kindly.” Jeff continued.

“DONT GET USED TO IT.” Edge returned, shifting Jeff on his shoulder, causing the man to hiss a little. Despite this, the overworked bouncer still had something to say.

“Thanks, Edge.” Edge’s perfect steps faltered once and only once.

“YUP.” Edge popped the ‘p.’

“You are truly the greatest and most terrible, Edge.” Jeff continued, and you could tell by the tone that Jeff was borderline teasing the skeleton.

“YOU ARE CORRECT.” 

“So seriously. Hundred percent. Thank you.” You watched, side-eye as Edge’s facial features grew tense and annoyed. 

“YUP.” Edge popped the ‘p’, Again. The red magic began to fade from Jeffs’s lower half, receding into Edge’s bones. 

The walk resumed its quiet pace for almost a full minute, almost. 

This time, when Jeff spoke, his voice was high with unbridled mirth.

“You’re my hero~” 

There was a thud, Jeff was deposited none too gently onto the ground, he let out a cry of pain. 

“STAND UP.” Edge barked, leering over the once more downed man. 

“But my ass~.” 

“I SAID, STAND UP, CRETIN!” Hands-on his hips, you watched Satan himself order the bouncer around. Without hesitation, Jeff obeyed, swaying to a stand before Edge. The humans face contorted into confusion; he took a couple of steps and stared up at the skeleton.

“It doesn’t hurt…?” 

“GOOD, NOW START WALKING AND STOP COMPLAINING.” He turned, with enough force to send a small gust of wind towards you. Edge took off at his average marching pace, and you watched him go, choosing to stay next to Jeff for a moment. 

“He doesn’t like talking when he walks for some reason,” you explained, walking with the man who still looked confused. 

“I can see that,” he replied huskily, though there was a fond look in his eye. You both caught up to the skeleton, the rest of the trip went in comfortable silence, with a soft yet exciting breeze. 

There were probably going to be repercussions to what you’d just done, but for now, you were happy, at ease in the presence of the boss monster. After tonight, Edge could ignore your messages however long he wanted to. You knew he’d be there if you needed him. 

Heh, he'd saved you from yourself, and though you doubted the fall would've left much of a mark, it was nice to know his first thought was to grab you. 

You don't _need _saving...

But sometimes, it's nice. 

_ 'Kill me? I'd like to see you try _

_ You take my life, I fail to die _

_ The fires fade, now close your eyes _

_ And sing my undead lullaby _

_ The night will fall and swallow light _

_ To fill my dark hollow inside _

_ And yet my death is all but nigh _

_ Sing my undead lullaby _

_ I sing my undead lullaby _

_ So far from life, yet cannot die _

_ This is my undead lullaby _

_ My cursed undead lullaby _

_ Sent to my grave, again I rise _

_ To sing my undead lullaby' _

**Undead Lullaby - JT Music**

**V ** **LINK** ** V**

[ **https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JY5bBMj5kw** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JY5bBMj5kw) ****

* * *

**Want to ask me some questions or give suggestions? You can reach me here.**

[ **http://themsoundwaves.tumblr.com/** ](http://themsoundwaves.tumblr.com/)

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	14. Road Trip? I Think Yes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Its been a while hmm? I had a random muse for this story. So heres another chapter! Enjoy it! **

_'Used to let it go,_

_Walk into the show,_

_Gawking at the tricks up your sleeve._

_Too good to be true,_

_Fool, I'm in a room,_

_Full of entertainers and thieves._

_Used to let it go,_

_Woah, oh no.'_

_ **Burn The House Down - AJR.** _

_ **V V LINK V V** _

_ ** <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnyLfqpyi94> ** _

* * *

He fought with himself all morning. 

Puttering down the road in his borrowed mail truck, there was a permanent scowl set on Edge's face. Should he? He shouldn't. He really shouldn't, but should he?

Edge was nearing the end of his route. He tried slowing down his driving to give himself more time to think this through. Poised crooked on his lap was a single envelope, White and plain. If he had to guess, he assumed it was junk mail, but there was something special about it. It had _your _name and address on it. 

Now, usually. Edge would drop your mail onto the porch and leave without a second thought as he did to every house he stopped at. 

He pulled up to the last house of the day, grumbling silently to himself while he struggled out of his seatbelt. He ducked out of the truck and approached the house. He slipped several envelopes through the mail slot, all the while Edges frown deepened. 

Should he? 

He shouldn't. 

But he wanted to?

Gathering up his courage, the mighty skeleton turned on his heel; mind made up, he returned to his borrowed mail-truck and used the driveway to turn himself around. Whether or not he did what he _thought_ he wanted to do, he still had to deliver your mail. 

He cursed at himself the entire five-minute drive to your apartment complex. It was nearing two in the afternoon. He had waited this late to deliver mail to your home purposefully, making sure that you would be awake when he-

Parking his truck on the side of the road, Edge began his hesitant trek towards your door, envelope crinkled in his iron grip, second thoughts greedily assaulted him.

One might ask why exactly he was having an internal crisis, You see, some time ago, upon finding out his occupation, Y/n had made it extremely obvious that they wanted to see him in his uniform. 

You'd been so happy when you found out, Your voice had risen and he remembered clearly how your body became twitchy with excitement at just the idea of Edge being a mailman. For the life of him, the Underfell skeleton could not figure out precisely _why _you'd given him that kind of reaction, but he couldn't get the image of your full-blown smile from his mind. 

So he stood there, like a creep before your front door, just staring at the wood darkened with age and stains you never bothered to clean. Were you even home? Were you asleep? Busy? Was he coming at a bad time? Perhaps he should text you first?

From the pocket of his uniform, he produced his phone and pulled up your messages, wincing at just how little the two of you text. He was planning on asking if you were home. That's it.

"FUCK." He hadn't even sent the message yet, and he could already hear your reply. No _wait,_ that wasn't in his skull. That had been your genuine voice, muffled by the walls. Edges' browbones creased, his frown grew in length.

"FUCKING GOD! NO NO, NO STOP, STOP, STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! HELP ME!" Triggered by your shrieking, Edges' instincts grabbed ahold of him. Raw concern had him kicking your door down. Your scream rang through the apartment, louder than anything he'd ever heard. 

He rushed inside, magic already molding, ready to rip apart whoever dared hurt you.

* * *

The walk home last night had been as it usually was, Quiet, comfortable, and severely wanted. It had ended on a good note, and you'd found yourself slipping under the covers earlier than usual. 

You'd gotten a full night's sleep and woke feeling so remarkably well-rested that you'd cleaned up your bedroom a bit the second you'd gotten out of bed.

By cleaned, you meant that you'd cleared off the nightstand, and made your bed for once. After eating a breakfast composed of scrambled eggs doused heavily in garlic powder, you'd used the bathroom and hobbled back to your room, fully intending to spend your day as you always had. 

With an energy drink on the table and a controller in hand. 

You downloaded a new game and spent the entire morning playing it. 

It was around two when your burning eyes were starting to bug you, you blinked away the sting but only succeeded in making your tunnel vision more blurry then it already was. You couldn't exactly stop and wipe your dry eyes, though. You were in the middle of something. 

You were five seconds away from getting a twenty killstreak in your game when out of nowhere, a fucking _spear _lodged itself into your characters back and instantly downed you.

"FUCK!" You hastily tried to heal yourself, if you bled out and died now, your killstreak would be gone, and you'd have your first death. Checking your inventory, you found no medical kits anywhere. Your heart plummeted in your chest, horrified disbelief sprawled across your facial features.

"FUCKING GOD!" And as you spoke His name, another player popped out from the corner of a building, running straight towards you. "Yes! please help." You called at the player, who had no way of hearing you without a headset. 

Your screen began flashing red, a few more seconds, and your killstreak would go wasted. "NO NO, NO STOP! STOP!" The player did not stop; he did a full circle around you then began back down the hallway he'd come from. "STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! HELP ME!" 

A loud bang from the living room had you shrieking; it was wholly unexpected and dawning during a time of utter rage for you, so you couldn't stop the sound, even if you wanted to. You sprang up from your bedroom couch, a million thoughts flashing through your mind. Was someone breaking in? _Why hadn't that guy healed you?_ Was it void? Had he found where you lived already? 

Your question was answered when your bedroom door slammed open, and a disheveled skeleton stood in its frame, eye lights ablaze, red magic swirling throughout him. He had a sharpened bone in one hand, and an envelope in the other. His hat was crooked, falling over one of his sockets while he heaved, clearly expecting a fight. 

You both just stood there, and it took you several seconds to realize that this skeleton was Edge. 

"Edge....?" 

"HUMAN? ARE YOU ALRIGHT? I HEARD YOU SCREAMING~" His gaze scanned your bedroom, finding it devoid of life that was not you. You blinked, once, twice, then a grin broke out across your face. From the looks of it, the skeleton must've been delivering mail to the apartments when he'd heard your pleas. 

"Well, 'least someone listens when I say I need help." You replied with a huff of a laugh. You gestured to your television. "I didn't mean to yell like that. 'Was playin' a game." Edges searching stare turned to the TV in question; little by little, he sank from his battle stance.

"OH..." 

"Yeah..." Shoulder suddenly stiff, you reached up and gave it a quick, nervous rub. 

His bone flashed away with little more than a snap of his fingers, he took on an awkward stance and held out the envelope in your direction.

"WE'LL SINCE I'M HERE NOW, THIS IS FOR YOU." You finally began looking over just what he was wearing.

A long-sleeved navy blue jacket stared back at you, complete with the red and white striped cuffs and a Mailman's badge on his chest. He wore a blue snapback with the same badge printed in the middle, his baggy pants matched the entire outfit, and you realized Edge looked so utterly different without his usual outfit that it stunned and left you speechless.

Minus the jagged teeth, the scars and the, well, fact that he was a walking talking skeleton, he looked so... _ Normal. _

This image right here, you knew, would be seared into your brain. People talked about their lives flashing before their eyes when they passed on. You wholeheartedly believed that the almighty Edgelord in his all Mailman glory would be one of those images. 

_EDGE, THE TERRIBLE, THE GRUESOME, THE HORRIYINGLY APPEALING..._

_Mailman._

"Y/N?"

Your eyes crinkled, smile stretching so far that it almost hurt, you began to giggle. 

"Oh my god, your so cute~" 

Edge's face screwed up at the word, and he haphazardly threw your disregarded junk mail to the ground in what you could only assume was the start of a typical Edge Tantrum. "~I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA." Face dusting red; he took a step back, you choked on a laugh and reached out for him.

"No, don't go. I'm sorry! but look at you!" You skirted up to him and grabbed his shoulders. He stood there stiffly as you fixed the neck of his jacket and straightened his hat. "So professional." then to your horror, you heard yourself saying- in the way one would when speaking to their dog~

"So haaandsoome." The skeleton's face burst into color, but still, he didn't move, letting you openly fix his uniform. The look on his face suggested that he regrets everything.

"THAT'S BETTER THAN CUTE, I GUESS." Edge mumbled, You finally stepped back from him and gave him a long once over. He was more slumped now, withering on the spot directly before your eyes. He looked so out of place that you felt bad for calling him cute, even if you enjoyed how flustered and angry he'd get over it. 

You wanted so badly to take a picture of him but knew that might be taking it a bit too far. You openly stared at him, inwardly overjoyed, knowing this unusual event would heighten your day. 

The silence rang on.

...

...

...

...

"WHELP, I BETTER BE GOING." Edge suddenly said, popping into a straightened position at his own words, as if the volume of his tone was done to wake himself up from a trance. You stumbled, shaking your head free of your daze, you laughed nervously.

"Oh yeah, right! you're prolly on the clock." You backtracked towards the tossed junk mail on the floor and bent down to pick it up. As you did this, Edge himself began retreating. When you straightened towards him again, He faltered in his steps under your gaze and bumped into the doorframe.

He played it off with a roll to his shoulder. 

"YES. I MUST RETURN TO MY ROUTE." He turned, and you followed him to the living room. Your front door looked in bad shape; thankfully it still clung to its hinges, you inwardly hoped it would close without ducktape.

"Thanks for the mail." You said hastily.

"SORRY FOR BREAKING YOUR DOOR." Edge said, equally as rapidly. You shrugged, knowing you should be making a bigger deal out of this but found you couldn't. 

"It's alright, ill get a new one." He offered you an awkward nod, his skull was slowly returning to its standard shade, but you guessed it wouldn't until he entirely left your presence, You gave him a little wave as he walked out and began down the street.

"Bye, G-Gmail!" You called, he looked back at you, giving you a confused look. 

"HOW MANY NICKNAMES ARE YOU GOING TO COME UP WITH?" 

"As many as I want!" Was your answer. You heard him scoff; he turned his back to you. 

Without a second of hesitation, you took out your phone and snapped a picture of him as he walked away. You saved it to your favorites and watched him retreat.

He was halfway down the street, yet, his truck was still parked on the road in front of your apartment.

You wondered how long it would take him to notice that he hadn't walked here this time.

You laughed to yourself as you closed the door. Half an hour later, you heard the Mailtrucks engine fire to life, and from the confines of your room, you listened to it as it grumbled away.

* * *

**[Visible Yawn]- **_'can I ask ya a favor?'_

Several hours later, after a long lazy bath and a few cigarettes, you were staring down at your phone, with youtube playing in the background. The text message had come a few minutes ago, but for the life of you, you couldn't figure out who had sent it. It had to be one of the skeletons because their 'name' was already on your phone. But which one?

Who might you have labeled 'Visible Yawn?' Out of all the skeletons you'd met-(_exactly how many had you met exactly?)-_which resembled a yawn the most? Which ones didn't have your number? With no prior text history, there was no way to tell.

Then you caught a whiff of tobacco from the newly acquired ashtray on your nightstand, You glanced over at it thoughtfully, feeling the recognition on the tip of your tongue.

...Ashtray. You tested the word in your mind hoping it would help you recall. 

_Ashtray._

An image flashed to the front of your mind: A skeleton slumped over on a bench with a handful of ashes pooled in the curl of his orange jacket.

It hit you. It was Stretch. Now that you remembered, you bulked at the fact that you had forgotten in the first place, and swiftly lifted your phone to text back.

**[Y/N]- _'_** _Sure, what's up?'_

The reply came not a second later. 

**[Visible Yawn]- ** _'rather say it in person. are you home?' _

You blinked up at your surroundings, confirming that yes, you were indeed home. The real question was: Were you okay with having company right now? 

You didn't even have to think about it. After the fourth hour of gaming and blaring music loud enough your next-door neighbor decided to loudly leave his house, you were growing bored. It was unusual, you were not used to getting bored with video games and your solitude, it had been your entire life up to this point.

You were changing. 

_They _were changing you. 

It seemed you were allowing it to happen.

**[Y/N]- **_'Yeah_ _I'm home.'_

**_[Visible Yawn]-_** _'omw'_

Knowing these skeletons had a habit of showing up in seconds you scrambled off your couch and went to the bathroom. You brushed your teeth and straightened your hair so fast barely a minute had passed and you were already shoving into one of your favorite baggy hoodies. To cover up your spaghetti strap top, so you would look a bit more decent. 

The knock came, you were ready, for once not looking like a caught off guard trashbag upon answering the door. 

"Hi." you greeted. 

"hey." Stretch greeted back. 

You stepped back and allowed him inside. He took a look around; it was brief. He'd been here before and not much has changed. 

"I got bottled coffee or Monsters which one ya want?" You asked, heading for your kitchen, he followed after you leisurely, giving a long thoughtful hum. 

"should probably take th' monster," Stretch replied, you gave him one of your green ones [you liked the blue one better] He popped open the can and took a few long gulps, sockets closed as he absorbed the energy. 

"So what's this favor?" You asked raising a brow. He leaned against the wall of your walk-in kitchen, tapping the can with a digit. 

"dealers dry, 'was wondering if ya wanted to go on'a road trip to get some from the dispensaries." Straight to the point, Stretch had no problem with mentioning his drug use to you. Perhaps he figured out that you tended to just accept things and not question them, or judge them. It came with the not caring personality you'd had your entire life. 

You knew you were going to say yes, of course. But first, you had one question. 

"Uh, why ya need me for that?" He blinked, still tapping his finger against the can like it was some kind of coping mechanism. 

"cus the state we're goin' to it ain't legal yet for monsters." He pursed his lips, somehow, despite the fact that he had no lips. "dont know any other humans." he finished, raising a single browbone at you, his head tilted in questioning. The gesture spoke louder than an excited Blueberry ever could.

_you in?_

He took your momentary silence for doubt and continued. "three hours there, three back. hour wiggle room for snack stops. hmm?" That doubt was ill-placed. You hadn't been out of Ebott since you first stumbled upon the city. 

"Ya had me at road trip, Yawns. Lemmie go grab my cash." 

Stretch's look shifted into a questioning frown, he watched you skitter off to your bedroom and contemplated the nickname you'd given him. He couldn't actually yawn, but it fit him. He hid his smile with a sip of his drink. 

He liked it. 

Much more casually this time, you returned from your bedroom, Stretch hid his snicker, watching a spare dollar bill fall from your freshly stuffed pockets. 

This would be interesting.

* * *

_Way up, way up we go,_

_Been up and down that road._

_Way up, way up, oh no,_

_We gon' burn the whole house down._

_Watch me stand in the line,_

_You're only serving lies,_

_You've got something to hide._

_We gon' burn the whole house down_

_We gon' burn the whole house down_

* * *

**Want to ask me some questions or give suggestions? You can reach me here.**

[My Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard)

* * *

**Heres some mailman Edge drawn to the best of my ability!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Road Trip, Anyone? **


	15. Butterflies

_'So what if I_   
_Opened up my eyes_   
_And let the rain_   
_Fall from the sky_   
_What if I_   
_Could run away from time_   
_Could I erase, erase all the lies_

_Oh will I ever learn to let go_   
_Will I ever learn to let it die_   
_Will I ever learn to let go_   
_Will I ever learn to let it die_   
_Let it die.'_

** _Let It Die- Rival_ **

** _V V V V LINK V V V V_ **

** _ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhB8GYx4SMQ> _ **

* * *

Stretch went on ahead when you pulled out your phone. You texted Edge, letting the skeleton know you'd be out for most the day with Stretch. As you expected, no reply came from him, so you flicked off the lights in your apartment, and headed out.

The second you stepped from the entrance of your home, you couldn't help but freeze at the sight before you.

Parked on the street was a 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, in the best condition you'd honestly ever seen. It was black with orange trimming, gleaming and spotless. 

Stretch must have seen your slight awe because he cackled as he neared the vehicle. "what, thought we'd walk the whole way?" He popped open the passenger side door for you then slid into the driver's seat. You were still standing on your porch, gawking at it. 

For once in your life, you wished you'd gotten your license so that you could drive it. Your eyes lingered over its boxy nature, the bend of its grill...

Stretch leaned over the passenger seat, taking his time rolling down the window from the inside, all while looking at you, his gaze questioning.

"hello?" was all he spoke when the window was finally fully down, you pursed your lips, then scrambled down the walkway. "Sorry, I was overwhelmed by your cars sexiness," you affirmed with a nervous laugh. Stretch huffed out a snort; he must have assumed your words as a joke. They weren't. Only the truth had left your lips.

You slipped in through the open door and sat yourself down inside. The interior was much like the exterior, clean and newly refurbished—all aside from the pile of trash your feet sunk into when you sat down. Bottles, wrappers, all kinds of things, you could no longer see your shoes. A shot of disgust darted through you before it melted into acceptance. 

It's not like your feet were in danger, it was just trash, Right?

_Right?_

Stretch started the engine then switched gears; the cars rumbled purr had you peeking at the ignition. It'd been so long since you were in a car, you could scarcely remember the last time you'd sat in a seat. 

"Nothin's gonna bite me, right?" 

To your horror, Stretch shrugged with a lethargic grin. "dunno, its possible." He laughed when your face twisted, and you shifted your feet up a little higher. 

"I can't imagine what your room looks like," you muttered playfully. 

"'s a good thing you'll never see it, huh?" 

You agreed distantly; against your wishes, you began to picture precisely how the skeletons dwellings looked It reminded you of your own home before Edge had gotten to it, with a bit more of an earthquake appearance. If something could bite you here, you were sure you'd be eaten in there. 

Your eyebrows creased at his words. Was that just you, or did that sound like a threat? 

Why did that sound like a threat?

So you, being you, bent back and scrunched your face in mock anger. "You threatening me, Yawns?"

He turned a corner, giving you a side-socket look.

"yep. dont wanna see what's in there, promise." Stretch chuckled to himself, barely paying attention to the road, yet somehow his driving was borderline perfect. "blue put up a biohazard sign on the door. said it was vita~" his words trailed off, smirk bending down into a frown, you watched his reaction for a moment before turning to what his eye lights landed on.

Someone was standing in the middle of the road up aways, it was still too far away to see any details, but the closer the car puttered towards them, the more you could make out.

It was Edge. 

Fuckin' Edge was standing in the middle of the damn road with his hands on his hips like a pissed off mother. 

Stretch smirked, coming to the same conclusion as you. You could feel the car start to pick up speed. He leaned foreword, that smirk breaking into a full-out, toothy grin.

"Stretch?" You questioned, voice rising a little. "That's Edge." You supplied, wondering why the fuck he'd be speeding up.

"oh, I know." 

"Then why are you speeding up?" you yelped out.

Stretch did not answer, simply pressed down harder on the gas, it was then you realized you hadn't put on your seatbelt, and with jerked movements, you snagged up the belt and clicked it in place. 

Accepting you wouldn't be able to stop the mad skeleton, you quickly began reeling down the window, cursing at how slow it was. You got about halfway when you could no longer waste time on the fuckin' thing. You sat up and smushed your face out the windows crease and screamed. 

"EDGE MOVE YOU BASTARD STRETCH IS A MADMAN!" 

Edge did not move; sockets narrowed; he stayed in place, thoroughly panicking you further. 

You ducked back inside. "wHaT aRe YoU dOiNg??" you cried out. Stretch laughed, sending you a wink. "wanna see if he'll move." 

"Well, he won't, because he's stubborn!" 

He was way to close now, all you could do was stare out the window, eyes wide with fear. Just when you thought Stretch was going to run your friend over, Edge sprang out of the way with a yell that whizzed by. "puLL OVER, YOU CRetin!"

When Stretch continued to speed past him, you watched Edge summon a bone and chuck it. 

It docked in the tire, with a pop and a squeal the automobile fishtailed before Stretch forced it to pull over. 

When the car came to a stop, You leaned back, hair a tad askew. Your wide eyes settled on Stretch, who decided to recline his seat and lay back with his arms crossed. His Sockets were returning to that half-lid. 

"no stoppin' him now." Stretch breathed out. He was rolling his skull to gaze through his window just as Edge appeared in it. 

"IM COMING WITH YOU." Edge straight-up demanded. You frowned, blinking. All of that just to join them? Couldn't he send a text?

"can't. ya popped the tire." Stretch said.

"THEN CHANGE IT." Edge growled, he stomped to the back door and threw it open. Papers and cups tumbled out at his boots, and he stared down at it. 

"cant, dunno how to change a tire. why are you here?" Stretch hummed, eyelids drooping further. 

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHY IM HERE. YOU THINK ID LET YOU TAKE Y/N OUT ON A ROAD TRIP ALONE? YOU'RE A TERRIBLE DRIVER."

His words sent a little thrill of giddiness through your insides. He was worried about your wellbeing, and he wasn't trying to hide it, he openly stated it. You didn't dare point that out for fear that he'd take it back.

So instead, you slumped a bit and watched them interact.

Edge bent down and began scooping trash off the floor, letting it litter the sidewalk. As he cleared a path, Stretch simply grumbled.

"am not." 

Edge picked up something bent, and very, very rusted off the ground. At the other skeletons' words, his body tensed, and without a second of hesitation, he threw it at Stretches reclined head. 

"YOU DAMN WELL KNOW YOU ARE." Edge spat. 

It hit the headrest instead and bounced back onto the floor, Edge snarled at it, then threw it down the street. 

"WHAT EVEN WAS THAT?" He cried out after it, more to himself than anyone around him. 

Stretch yawned, talking through it. "doesn't even matter now, 'cuz you popped the tire. not goin' anywhere." he finished with a huff.

All the while, you just sat there, staring at the two of them. You wanted to go on this road trip. For the first time in years, you were going out of state, and you wouldn't let a popped tire slow you down.

"I ain't giving up that easy!" you declared- surprising yourself. Giving up was kind of a thing for you unless you were fighting.

Throwing open your door, you got out and rounded the vehicle, popping open the trunk you were pleased to see a spare tire peaking out through some junk. You weren't expecting Stretch to have a spare. Thanking Satan, you pulled out the hunk of rubber and set it on the ground.

It had several holes on one side, utterly useless.

It was a good thing you'd spotted a second tire squished further behind that one. Struggling with your short arms, you pulled that one out and sat it beside the other one.

That tire, too, had been shredded on one side, scraps of ruined rubber hung from it, the hubcap was missing as well.

You frowned at it, wondering just what the hell could tare a tire up like that. Still wearing that frown, you crossed Edges' growing pile of trash and leaned over the driver's side window.

"Why do you keep broken tires in your trunk, Stretch?" You questioned him, Behind you Edge straightened, confusion etching across his skull. He glanced back at the tires, and that confusion melted into quite an impressive deadpan.

"memories," Stretch replied with a wave of his hand. 

You couldn't help it; you laughed at the irony. Of course, this skeleton would have ruined spares where his new spares should be. 

"USELESS!" Edge jeered. 

Ten minutes later, you found yourself standing in front of those tires, Edge to the right of you, and Stretch napping away in the driver's seat. Edge had finished his cleansing of the backseat, and the only thing left to do was figure out the tire problem.

After two more minutes of staring at the hopeless rubber, you finally spoke. 

"Ya know if ya didn't spear the tire, we'd be fine right now." You teased, giving him a wide grin. Edge rolled his eye lights, stepping past you he began poking at the shredded rubber with one of his summoned bones. 

"IT WAS THE ONLY OPTION. WHAT IF THIS HAD HAPPENED FURTHER AWAY? YOU'D BE STRANDED WITH STRETCH, HAVING TO DO ALL THE WORK ON YOUR OWN BECAUSE HE WON'T DO IT." Alright, that was the second time he outwardly displayed concern for you, and this time you weren't going to let it slip by.

"Aw, you do care about me, GG?" His body tightened, fists clenched at his sides. You shut up quickly, waiting for the outburst of. 'OF COURSE NOT!' 

So imagine your surprise when he sighed and with it admitted defeat. He grumbled under his breath and spoke, barely a whisper. "Of Course I Do You Gutter Rat. Why Else Would I Be Here?" 

You were speechless; you could do nothing but stare at the skeleton through a wave of butterflies in your chest. He didn't look at you and went right back to poking at the tires, but that hadn't dampened the words one bit. 

Heat flared across your cheeks, you turned your gaze to the vacant street and mirrored his mumble. "I care 'boutcha too, Edge." 

His skull locked in your direction at the words, like he hadn't expected them in the least. Red orbs fastened onto your eyes, his gaze weakened, and in that instant you wanted nothing more than to slide foreword and lay upon his chest armor~

You observed yourself doing just that, with a warm, dazed smile drawing your lips you hopped over the tires and closed the distance, standing directly before him. He didn't move away from you or flinch. Edge just stood there, in all his glory, gazing down at you with quiet, curious sockets. 

"Can I hug ya now? Since we agree?" You lifted your arms. Raising an eyebrow at him. 

His eye lights darted from your face to your limply risen arms. Twice his mouth opened to speak words that wouldn't come, but the third time was the charm. 

"I-I Guess-" 

You wrapped your arms around his back. You hadn't noticed how much taller he was compared to you until you felt his arms around your neck and a chin on your head, resting in your hair. 

Like so many times before in his presence, it was soundless. Neither of you spoke, and it was okay. What mattered had already been shared, and no other words were needed. 

It felt _good _to hug him, to hold... someone. The last time you'd had a real embrace was when you were a child.

Did you never want them to end then, too? 

You couldn't recollect ever feeling this way during a hug before.

You wanted to melt then fall asleep listening to his soul thrum.

You wanted to~

The sharp honk of a horn scared the living hell out of both you and the skeleton holding you. Edge's pretty much teleported five feet away with how quickly he'd scrambled back. You glanced up, watching a Dodge ram slow to a stop in front of you. The glass rolled down, and a brown-haired man seeming in his forties, sagged against the window frame. 

"You guys need some kind of help?" His blue eyes trailed over the piles of junk, and the ruined tires splayed out on the side of the road. 

"Yes." You answered.

"NO." Edge barked.

The two of you glared at each other, but there was no malice in it. 

"Looks like you need some help." The man confirmed, he rolled his window back up, then parked on the side of the road, he got out and walked towards you, you met him halfway. 

"Yeah, ignore him. He's moody." You didn't have to look to see the skeleton behind you bristle at your words. You smirked.

"We popped a tire, which was fine cuz we had a spare, but the spares also popped, and the... second spare is too. So." You shrugged. "Were outta spares." 

The man side glanced at the mess that they'd created. "I can see that," he replied. He snorted at sight. "I'm Tucker; I got a spare in the back, let me grab it." Just as quickly as he'd come, Tucker jogged off to his truck to retrieve the item. Edge came up to your side with his arms crossed.

"I DON'T LIKE HIM." The skeleton declared.

"You don't like anyone." You informed him, Edge nodded at your words, knowing them to be true.

Of course, Edge would have a problem with this. A lot of humans were assholes to the monsters. However, Whereas most continued to drive on by and ignore them, Tucker had stopped to offer a hand, and although he seemed to straight-up ignore Edges' presence, it was better than starting a fight with him.

* * *

Tire fixed, spares discarded, You bid Tucker farewell with an assured thank you. He hadn't asked for anything, and in turn, you didn't give. It was an instance of a stranger being helpful, and you couldn't be more pleased with the state of humanity. 

You rounded the car, returning to the passenger seat, ready to resume the journey to get Stretch his weed. 

Edge smacked the driver's window with his claws. "WAKE UP!" He snapped.

Stretch, who had been asleep the entire time, opened his optics slowly. "'m' up." He blinked at Edge, then sat up. The first thing he did when he straightened, was pull forth a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He pulled one out of the package with his teeth, then tossed the red and white box onto your lap just as you'd sat down and closed the door. 

Of course, you instantly grabbed the pack and pulled one out for yourself, plopping it between your lips you reeled down your window and searched your pockets for a lighter you realized you didn't have. You groaned. How could you forget your lighter at home?

Stretch saw your predicament and tapped your shoulder. He beckoned you foreword with a digit and without asking why you leaned with his movement. Stretch lifted his pitch-black light, and lit the cigarette in your mouth, for you.

"Thanks."

"anytime." 

"LET'S GET THIS SHITSHOW ON THE ROAD ALREADY." Edge groaned while squeezed inside the backseat. He looked downright pissed to be sitting in the back. 

Without further ado, and a chuckle at Edges predicament, Stretch started the engine and drove off. 

You listened to the rock station play while your gaze turned to the world outside the window, speeding past in a blur of colors. Half an hour in, and you weren't even entirely out of town yet, within that, you'd already had an experience that you inwardly adored. 

You were going to enjoy this. 

* * *


End file.
